Air Carrier flight crew reported during pushback the aircraft rolled forward uncontrolled resulting in a broken tow bar.
Synopsis
Air Carrier flight crew reported during pushback the aircraft rolled forward uncontrolled resulting in a broken tow bar.
Narrative
After pushback from Gate XX; we started engines and set the brakes after the push. The ground crew were unable to get the pin out of the tow bar. After about a 7-minute delay; I suggested that we move the aircraft slightly forward and straighten out the aircraft in an attempt to dislodge the pin to the point where they could easily remove it. The tug driver thought it was a good idea and said he would try this. He told me to release the brakes; which I did. I told him when I released the brakes and that he was cleared to move the aircraft. The aircraft moved about 10 feet forward; then we heard a strange noise - like a scraping noise. I attempted to call the tug driver; but he did not answer. We saw the tug driver and left wing walker run away from the aircraft. I did not set the brakes until someone hooked up after the emergency vehicles arrived. Cause: It appears that there was miscommunication between the tug driver and myself. I never heard a call to reset the brakes after we moved forward in an attempt to dislodge the pin. I'm not sure if the pin broke or perhaps the headset wasn't working. It appears that the push crew was fairly new and perhaps the driver just forgot to tell me to set the brakes. I'm really not sure. This problem with the pins seems to be common. Perhaps more frequent lubrication would help dislodge the pins easier. As a normal procedure; most of the time they move the aircraft straight forward; even if it's not needed. I think that is a good idea. In my scenario; I don't think we did that. We just pushed back into a taxi position without moving forward. I'm not one hundred percent sure that was the case.
Second reporter narrative
I was Relief Pilot and sitting in the jumpseat during the event. I was monitoring the right radio tuned to Ramp frequency. I could hear the Captain talk; so I heard his end of the conversation. We were cleared to push back. CA made contact with ground personnel and released breaks and cleared them for push. We were pushed back relatively straight back and the CA set the parking brake. During the push; we were cleared to start both engines; which the FO did. After a few seconds; we could tell the ground personnel asked the CA to release the parking brake as they needed to pull us forward. The CA released the parking brake. As we moved forward; we heard and felt an extremely loud; unsettling clanging and clunking. All three of us immediately knew something was wrong. The CA immediately attempted to contact the ground crew to ask if he should set the parking brake. He received no response. He called the ground crew multiple times with no response. We all knew there was a big problem so he just set the brake on his own judgement. A couple minutes later; someone finally got on the ground head set and reestablished communication with us to let us know there was an issue with the tow bar. We were swarmed with ground trucks; tugs; fire trucks; and other vehicles. We were eventually told that we would be deplaning by air stairs and would depart from another gate. No one was injured on the aircraft and everyone was able to deplane safely despite the rickety air stairs.I was told the most senior person on the push crew was hired approximately 2 years ago. Well; you get what you pay for. To mitigate the risk in this situation; I suggest better training for ramp personnel. As a side note; I've noticed an abhorrent amount of FOD while doing the walk around on X Gates and Y Gates; including water bottle and caps; millions of ear plugs; tampons; and 4 cigarette butts. So that goes to show the lack of respect the ramp crews have for our working environment.
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Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.