Technician crew towing an aircraft with a supertug reported a near miss with a baggage tug driver who did not yield right of way.

Date: 2025-03 · Aircraft: Commercial Fixed Wing · Phase: taxi

Anomalies: conflict-ground-conflict|critical|deviation-discrepancy-procedural-published-material-policy

Synopsis

Technician crew towing an aircraft with a supertug reported a near miss with a baggage tug driver who did not yield right of way.

Narrative

On Day 0; at ZZZ approximately XA:50; I along with 4 other mechanics were tasked with repositioning Aircraft X from the hangar to a remote parking spot named XX. The weather at that time was light rain and was at sunset but still light out. The Supertug strobe lights were on and flashing. The aircraft power was off due to the short distance we were traveling (the aircraft power had been off while it was parked at the hangar). I was riding brakes. The Supertug driver positioned the aircraft at the release line of Taxiway 1 (an exclusive taxiway leading to/from the hangar) just short of the service road for ground vehicles. He called ZZZ Ground Control and was given clearance to reposition via 1; 2 to XX parking. Under tow; the aircraft began to move and travelled about 20 feet and was beginning to cross the service road when the Supertug driver had to slam on the brakes due to a baggage tug driving in front of the aircraft narrowly missing the Supertug. The baggage tug did not stop at the clearly visible stop sign; did not yield for the aircraft; slow down; speed up or take any other action to avoid the aircraft. I could see the tug driver from the cockpit and saw the driver looking at something in the tug's passenger seat the entire time the tug was passing the aircraft. The tug driver was oblivious to the surroundings. The tug then continued east on the service road as if nothing happened.The tug was a company vehicle; the third-party company 1 uses to move cargo at ZZZ. It was a single vehicle that was not towing any cargo containers or dollies.I reported the incident to my supervisor who contacted the shift manager. They viewed security footage but due to camera location did not see the incident. They did go to the cargo building and talked to a manager there. The company manager said it 'could be one of 3 people'. He called in each and each denied knowing anything about anything. He informed them about aircraft right of way; that was all.Cause: Lack of situational awareness DistractionComplacency Failure to follow instructions (aircraft right of way; stop signs; airport driving rules)Lack of knowledge Suggestions: Ground vehicles failing to yield to aircraft occurs multiple times per day in this station. Reports like this have been filed by me and my colleagues; complaints made to local management and the airport authority all to no avail. All we get is a shoulder shrug and 'what can we do' answer. Following the 'See something; say something' mantra; I'm saying something AGAIN!

Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.