A319 flight crew reported while parking at the gate the marshaller stopped the aircraft too soon. While the ground crew was preparing to tug the aircraft to the gate; the aircraft rolled back several feet before the flight crew applied brakes.
Synopsis
A319 flight crew reported while parking at the gate the marshaller stopped the aircraft too soon. While the ground crew was preparing to tug the aircraft to the gate; the aircraft rolled back several feet before the flight crew applied brakes.
Narrative
During parking we pulled too far forward. The Captain set the parking brake and directed me to shut down the engines but to keep the seatbelt sign on. I directed the passengers to remain seated with seatbelts fastened because the aircraft would need to be moved back. The ramp marshalller turned to get the tug without communicating directly to us. After the tug pulled up; at some point the Captain released the parking brake I believe after assuming the tug was connected. We began to move back; assuming it was the tug that was moving us. Shortly after rolling back another ramp crew person gave a fist in the air signal. I was not sure what she was communicating at first; but after a few seconds I told the Captain that I think they wanted us to stop. The Captain came on the brakes and the aircraft came to an immediate stop. After we stopped it became clear that we were not being pushed back and that we were actually rolling back. The ground personal appeared to be concerned and surprised by what happened. I believe that a breakdown in communication was the main error that lead to this incident. Luckily no one was hurt and nothing was damaged.
Second reporter narrative
We were parking at Gate XX in ZZZ. The gate has a long accordion type jet bridge; and the marshaller stopped us sooner than I expected. The jet bridge was still about 30 ft. in front us on the left side when the marshaller gave us the stop signal; I set the parking brake; and directed the First Officer (FO) to shutdown the engines. The marshaller then got in the tug parked in front of us; and moved it underneath the nose of the aircraft. For what seemed like a long time; we did not see any ramp personnel. The FO and I concluded that we had stopped past the mark; but we weren't sure; and were confused about what the plan was. Then I felt the aircraft lurch aft slightly. I thought at that moment they were trying to push us with the parking brake on; so I released it. The aircraft very slowly moved aft; then a ramper appeared at the FO's side of the aircraft and gave us the stop signal. We set the parking brake; and the jet bridge was driven up to the aircraft. I didn't realize anything was wrong until the FO mentioned how exited the ramper looked. I did not get a chance to speak to the ground crew; they were gone by the time I got off the aircraft.
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Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.