Incident Overview
On 15 January 2006, at 0605 UTC, a Boeing 737-33A (registration G-TOYE) operated as a public transport passenger flight was involved in a ground incident at Birmingham Airport. The aircraft had been pushed back from its parking stand and was then pulled forward by the tug to align with the taxiway.
Sequence of Events
After pushback, the flight crew had started engine No 1 and were in the process of starting engine No 2. A member of the ground crew requested over the intercom that the flight crew set the parking brake. The commander responded "just wait one minute" while continuing with the engine start. A few seconds later, the commander became aware that the aircraft was moving forward.
The aircraft rolled forward and struck the tug because the tow bar had been disconnected without any brakes being applied on the aircraft. The ground crewman repeated his request for the brakes to be set to park. The commander then applied the brakes and set them to park, but not before the aircraft had rolled forward sufficiently for the radome to hit the tug.
Damage and Inspection
An engineer inspected the aircraft to assess the damage, which was confined to a dent in the radome. No other damage was reported.
Pilot Statement
The commander stated his belief that the ground crewman on the intercom may have misheard his instructions to wait, resulting in the ground crew disconnecting the tow bar while there were no aircraft brakes applied.