Accident
A Boeing 757 was parked at the gate with passengers aboard when an Airbus A319 being taxied struck the Boeing. The Airbus was being taxied to a gate by maintenance technicians.
Sequence of Events
The taxiing mechanic reported that he activated the parking brake and waited for ground personnel and a jet way operator to arrive. After the ground personnel arrived, he released the parking brake. The airplane did not move, and he advanced the throttles out of their idle detents "a couple of inches, about halfway." The airplane began to move at a "fairly decent speed," and he realized the throttles were still out of the idle detent position. He pulled the throttles back and applied brakes; however, the airplane did not slow and continued until it struck the jet way.
Investigation
Review of the flight data recorder revealed that about 12 seconds after the parking brake was released, the thrust lever angles for both engines were increased to about 17 degrees for about 9 seconds, before they were returned to the idle position. During that time, the engines N1 and N2 speeds increased to about 71 and 85 percent, respectively. Examination of the airplane's brake-steering control unit and the electronic control units from each engine did not reveal any evidence of a system failure that would have contributed to the accident.
Training
The taxiing mechanic stated he was qualified to taxi the Airbus and had taxied the airplane regularly as part of his normal work duties. Review of his training records revealed he had received approximately 5 hours of initial Airbus taxi on-the-job training. However, he did not possess an authorization to taxi the A319.