B777 First Officers reported a critical ground conflict after a miscommunication with the push crew. The pilots thought they were disconnected and clear to start the taxi however the ground personal on the headset was still connected to the aircraft. An immediate stop was performed with no injuries.
Synopsis
B777 First Officers reported a critical ground conflict after a miscommunication with the push crew. The pilots thought they were disconnected and clear to start the taxi however the ground personal on the headset was still connected to the aircraft. An immediate stop was performed with no injuries.
Narrative
We pushed back from [the gate]. It was a single person push crew. I was the relief pilot monitoring com 1 and the ground inter phone. The push was good. The ground crew said to set our brakes and cleared to start. The Captain said cleared to disconnect headset. Brake was set and the First Officer started both engines. The Captain called for flaps 20 after start. The after start flow was ran. It took a bit longer than normal. Kind of felt like 5 minutes. We talked to Ground and were told to wait for traffic coming into the ramp area to park. We were then clear to taxi. Clear left; clear right. The Captain turned the taxi light on and released the brakes. As we started moving forward I hear stop stop stop. I repeated what I heard and told the Captain to stop. He immediately stopped the aircraft. We then heard the ground crew say that he was still connected. We were all surprised. The First Officer then turned the wheel cameras on. There he was. It had been what seemed a long time for the ground personnel to still be connected. The ground personnel disconnected the head set and got in the tug and drove to the left side of the aircraft. We taxied to the runway and took off.
Second reporter narrative
We pushed off [the gate] and came to a stop. The Captain said 'brake set; clear to disconnect.' I was on radio the left radio communicating with and monitoring ATC; while the Captain was on the right with the push crew. He then turned to me and said; 'start the left engine' followed by 'start the right engine.' After the engines were started; he looked in front and to the left of the aircraft (the direction of our gate and where the push crew should have been); gave a nod and said 'flaps 20; after start checklist.' After the flow and checklist were complete he said; 'call for taxi.' I called for and verified our clearance with the Captain. He said; 'clear right?' I said; 'clear right.' He said; 'clear left' turned the taxi light on and began to roll forward. As we slowly rolled forward the International Relief Officer (IRO) said 'stop; stop; stop the aircraft.' He said he heard the tug driver saying 'stop' as we began to roll forward. The Captain came to an immediate stop. He said he just messed up and it wasn't hard to tell it shook him up. The IRO definitely saved the day by monitoring both frequencies.
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Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.