History of the Flight
The flight was a scheduled commercial passenger service from Paris-Charles de Gaulle (France) to Toronto (Canada). The push-back operation from stand A38 began at 11:44 UTC, with a scheduled block time of 11:56. The operation involved personnel from two handling companies: the headset operator from Air France Industries and the push-back tractor driven by two agents from Airlines Ground Service (AGS). The driver was a trainee accompanied by an instructor.
During the push-back, the driver initially made a turn that was too wide and experienced difficulty following ground markings. At the end of the push-back, the aircraft was nearly aligned with the taxiway centerline, but the nose gear was still offset by approximately 80 cm. The driver performed a final maneuver to align the nose gear, during which the turn angle between the bar and tractor reached its maximum limit, resulting in the rupture of a shear pin.
Sequence of Events
After the shear pin rupture, the instructor signaled to the headset operator and indicated the shear pin. Believing the headset operator had understood and requested the crew to apply the aircraft parking brake, the instructor instructed the trainee to apply the tractor parking brake and alighted the tractor. He then actuated the hydraulic extension of the tow bar's retractable wheel gear and asked the driver to raise the drawbar pin to disconnect the bar. The aircraft, with its parking brake not applied, moved forward. One of the tow bar wheels rolled over the instructor's right foot, trapping him. Under stress, the bar suddenly unhooked from the tractor and struck his right leg. The headset operator did not see the hand signals and only realized the situation when the aircraft moved. The crew heard a noise and applied the parking brake upon feeling the forward movement, simultaneously receiving the request from the headset operator.
Injuries and Damage
The ground agent (instructor) sustained injuries to his right leg. The aircraft was not damaged, and the crew subsequently took off after a 45-minute delay.
Investigation Findings
The investigation was unable to determine the exact timeline of the shear pin rupture or whether signals were exchanged between the headset operator and the tractor agents. It was established that the instructor alighted and began disconnecting the tow bar without the aircraft parking brake applied and without wheel chocks in place. One of the tow bar's shear pins was found ruptured.