Incident Overview
The captain of an airliner reported that after receiving clearance to taxi for departure, a tug pushed the aircraft back to a position close to the gate. To conserve fuel, only the right engine was started for taxiing. Due to the positioning of other aircraft and the proximity of the gate, the captain elected to make a 270-degree right turn to begin taxiing toward the runway.
Sequence of Events
As the right turn was initiated, the thrust from the right engine produced jet blast that overturned three baggage carts located nearby. One of the carts struck a ground worker, resulting in a serious injury.
Operational Limits
The company's operations manual specified that taxi thrust should be kept below 45% N1. However, data from the flight data recorder indicated that the right engine's N1 peaked at 49.73% as the throttle was advanced to start the turn.
Findings
The thrust level during the turn exceeded the company's published limit, and the resulting jet blast affected ground equipment and personnel. No other contributing factors were identified in the source material.