Air carrier flight crew reported the tow bar broke off during push back and came in to contact with the aircraft.
Synopsis
Air carrier flight crew reported the tow bar broke off during push back and came in to contact with the aircraft.
Narrative
All procedures and indications were normal upon the main cabin door closing. After the jet bridge had pushed away; there was about a five minute break until the cargo door was shut; and there was verbal contact through the headset communication with the ground personnel. The entire time communication was clear and concise through the intercom and as the First Officer; I was listening to the intercom on a very low volume two monitor ground operations as it was busy and there were a lot of push backs off the XX to XD gates along with ground traffic such as employee busses; fuel trucks; baggage carts and catering vehicles.The Captain after communicating through the intercom with the ground personnel ; he gave me the go-ahead to contact ramp to request to push back off of Gate XC. We were immediately told to hold the push for ground equipment and buses behind us from other aircraft pushing around us creating a traffic jam with the employee; buses and other ground equipment. The ground crew stood by until we were given the go-ahead to push from ramp controllers. Once ramp cleared us to push back from XC. I as the First Officer turned on the beacon and gave the Captain to go-ahead to push off of XC.The ground crew acknowledged immediately and began to push back. Everything had a normal sequence of events; including the clearance to go ahead and start engines from the ground crew in the middle of the push sequence. The Captain gave me a clear command to go ahead and start both engines as XC is a 2 engine gate. So I began to do so; starting engine 1 first. After a brief heads down moment; I reached up to start the clock for situational awareness on the engine start. This being about 5-6 seconds into the initial start sequence of the engine 1. I had noticed the push back had stopped; and looking outside realize we were inching forward very slowly. This seemed off; as the sight picture was in the middle of the push as far as distance backwards from the gate.I immediately verbalized 'are we moving forward ' to the Captain. We are both a little perplexed for a brief one or two seconds from the startle factor as we were looking at the Marshaller at our 12 o'clock with no expression in his face and no movement with his hands or wands. There was no loud noises or movements to indicate a breakaway from equipment failure.By this time; our engine had spooled up to about 40% and our aircraft had slowly started progressing faster forwards. Out of the corner of my eye; I saw the tug right underneath the First Officers right hand window in a position too far backwards to be attached by just instinct. I immediately pressed the brakes and held them. Telling the Captain immediately I had pressed the brake pedals and was holding them.Throughout the sequence of events; the Captain; nor I had heard any ground personnel communicate verbally that there was a breakaway or that the tow bar had been inadvertently disconnected. Or that the push was complete. And once we had rolled to far forward for this to be under control of the ground personnel; the Marshaller never indicated anything other than a X shape with his wands. The Captain and I also never heard the ground personnel say set brake or any verbal communication during the roll forward; until the Captain asked what happened and if that was them that moved us forward or if we had a breakaway. We got a response from the ground personnel stating there was a issue and that the tow bar was disconnected and there may be a small scrape on the paint but they we're going to reconnect and reassured us there wasn't anything wrong and the details were very unclear. 'Just a minor scratch'. The Captain and I both communicated internally stating we are both uncomfortable with what happened and we're going to be contacting Maintenance and returning to the gate. So with the APU still running I asked the Captain if it was ok to shut down the running engine and he confirmed so I began the shutdown flow.About that same time ramp had called us and asked if there was anything of the ordinary. I quickly communicated that I believe we just had a breakaway and that we were holding brakes and we were returning back to the gate to have someone from Maintenance take a look. They indicated they agreed and that what they saw on the cameras indicated a mandatory call to Maintenance as there was possible physical contact with the equipment. I then communicated with ramp had said to the Captain; and he then clearly communicated via the headset through intercom to the ground crew that we would need to return to the gate. They answered back immediately stating OK that they would take us back. Upon pulling us back into the gate; the tug driver did about five or six back-and-forth sequences to try and get the nose of the aircraft turned into the XC parking line. The Captain and I both thought that was unusual. Once at the gate we completed the parking checklist to ensure the aircraft was secured properly. Once back at the gate with the brake set I immediately alerted ramp via the radio that we would be quite a while at the gate and to have the aircraft waiting for our gate that was inbound to go to another one. After that was done; I immediately sent a message to maintenance stating; 'breakaway on push back tug driver mentioned scrape on paint'. As soon as that was done; I contacted Operations via radio and advised them that there was a possible breakaway situation and damage; and that I had sent a request to Maintenance. They were already aware by that time. Subsequently I called Maintenance via radio and advise them of the possible breakaway and damage to the aircraft or tug. They were aware and said to open the main cabin door; so a Maintenance Supervisor can come on board and talk to us. I immediately reached up for the forward and aft flight attendant call buttons and let them know we had returned to the gate due to possible damage to the aircraft and that we would need disarm the doors for the jet bridge to be connected and the main cabin door to be opened. They acknowledged and made the announcement to the other flight attendants to disarm doors for arrival. About 10 minutes after the jet bridge was connected; the Maintenance Supervisor came on board and had mentioned they had talked to the ground crew that pushed us back. They said that the tug had disconnected from the tow bar; and that the tow bar was still attached to the aircraft during the breakaway. And that there is a large gash on the aircraft that was going to down the aircraft for the day and to go ahead and de-plane the passengers once we got to go ahead from operations. After confirming with operations via the radio and the gate agent on the jet bridge the Captain made a PA announcement to everyone explaining that we were going to exit the aircraft with all of their baggage and that we were going to have to change aircraft. Once everybody goes off the aircraft and Maintenance confirmed they were going to take the aircraft to the hanger and we're ready for the aircraft to be shut down completely; the Captain and I did the termination checklist and called operations to then go and do a drug testing on the airport grounds.
Second reporter narrative
All procedures and indications were normal upon the main cabin door closing. After the jet bridge had pushed away; there was about a five minute break until the cargo door was shut; and there was verbal contact through the headset communication with the ground personnel. The entire time communication was clear and concise through the intercom. The First Officer was monitoring as well. Ground operations were busy with pushbacks off the XX to XD gates along with ground traffic such as employee busses; fuel trucks; baggage carts and catering vehicles. Parking brakes were released with clearance from the ground crew. I instructed the First Officer to request clearance to push. We were immediately told to hold the push for ground equipment and buses behind us from other aircraft pushing around us creating a traffic jam with the employee; buses and other ground equipment. The ground crew stood by until we were given the go-ahead to push from Ramp Controllers. Once ramp cleared us to push back from XC; the First Officer (FO) turned on the beacon and gave me the go-ahead to push off of XC. The ground crew acknowledged immediately and began to push back. Everything had a normal sequence of events; including the clearance to go ahead and start engines from the ground crew in the middle of the push sequence. I cleared the FO to start both engines as XC is a 2 engine gate. We noticed the pushback had stopped; and looking outside realized we were moving forward very slowly. I assumed the ground crew were moving us to a better angle for a left turn out. The Marshaller off the front left side of the aircraft made no indication anything was abnormal. I asked the FO to confirm on his side the Marshaller was following along. The FO noticed the tug was out of position and disconnected from the aircraft. He immediately applied max braking. This seemed off; as the sight picture was in the middle of the push as far as distance backwards from the gate. There was no loud noises or movements to indicate a breakaway from equipment failure. Throughout the sequence of events; neither the FO nor myself heard any ground personnel communicate us verbally that there was a breakaway or that the tow bar had been inadvertently disconnected. Or that the push was complete. We were never instructed to set the parking brake. Once we had rolled too far forward for this to be under control of the ground personnel; the marshaller never indicated anything. We got a response from the ground personnel stating there was an issue and that the tow bar was disconnected and there may be a small scrape on the paint . He reassured us there wasn't anything wrong and the details were very unclear. 'Just a minor scratch'. The FO and I both communicated internally stating we are both uncomfortable with what happened and we're going to be contacting Maintenance and returning to the gate. With the APU still running the FO asked for clearance to shutdown the running engine. When the aircraft was stopped I asked the ground crew if I was cleared to set the parking brake. I was instructed to hold. The ground personnel inserted the chocks then gave clearance to set the parking brake. About that same time ramp the FO applied the brakes ramp asked if there was anything out of the ordinary with the push. The FO quickly communicated that we believed we just had a breakaway and that we were holding brakes and we were returning back to the gate to have someone from maintenance take a look. The indicated they agreed and that what they saw on the cameras indicated a Mandatory call to Maintenance as there was possible contact.The FO relayed the call from ramp and I communicated via the headset intercom to the ground crew that we would need to return to the gate. They answered back immediately stating OK that they would take us back. Upon pulling us back into the gate; the tug driver did about five or six back-and-forth sequences to try and get the nose of the aircraft turned into the XC parking line. The FO and I both thought that was unusual. Once at the gate we completed the parking checklist to ensure the aircraft was secured properly. Once back at the gate with the brake set we immediately alerted ramp via the radio that we would be delayed at the gate and to have the aircraft waiting for our gate Go to another one. After that was done; the FO sent a message to Maintenance stating; 'breakaway on pushback tug driver mentioned scrape on paint'. As soon as that was complete we contacted Operations via radio and advised them that there was a possible breakaway situation and damage; and notified Maintenance. They were already aware by that time. Subsequently we called Maintenance via radio and advise them of the possible breakaway and damage to the aircraft or tug. They were aware and said to open the main cabin door; so a Maintenance Supervisor can come on board and talk to.About 10 minutes after the jet bridge was connected; the Maintenance Supervisor came on board and had mentioned they had talked to the ground crew that pushed us back. They said that the tug had disconnected from the tow bar; and that the towbar was still attached to the aircraft during the breakaway. There was a large gash on the aircraft. After confirming with operations via the radio and the gate agent on the jetbridge I made a PA announcement to everyone explaining that we were going to exit the aircraft with all of their baggage and that we were going to have to change aircraft. The FO and myself were instructed to report for mandatory drug testing.
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Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.