A300 flight crew reported they forgot to set brakes after engine start and rolled uncontrolled on the ramp.
Synopsis
A300 flight crew reported they forgot to set brakes after engine start and rolled uncontrolled on the ramp.
Narrative
I; as Captain and PIC of this flight; got distracted and out of my normal routine and showed signs of being tired; by failing to set the aircraft parking brake during our through-flight between leg one and two (of three that night/morning) and not catching/correcting it in the pre-flight checklist at ZZZ. It was not caught until we rolled forward several feet as the second engine spooled up. Contributing Factors:- focus on non-maintenance staffed gateways procedures for logbook- disrupted flows without a face to face; non-towered field ops; and self-induced pressure to make up time and avoid incoming weather- dark ramp and increasingly heavy rain (prevented noticing forward movement - and saw marshaller signaling for forward movement as the second engine was spooling up)Outcome:The ground observer who was plugged into the aircraft unplugged and ran towards the marshaller as soon as the aircraft started rolling. I'm not sure whether the marshaller thought things were normal (as he was signaling us forward at that time; but I'm guessing it was harder to assess than normal since it was dark and raining hard); but I; being startled; immediately stopped the aircraft and set the parking brake; observed both ground crew clear (for safety) and continued the engine start. I then signaled for the ground observer to plug back into the aircraft - which he did. I apologized for the situation and ensured he and everything else was okay - which he was and then he confirmed everything was clear. Lesson Learned:I will be hyper cognizant of the irregularities of non-maintenance staffed gateways and work harder to overcome those as distractions to ensure all my duties are performed…as they translate directly to safety.
Second reporter narrative
I was the FO (First Officer) on Flight ABCD. We had just landed at ZZZ airport; which is a non-tower airport. After we had blocked in I started initializing the FMS for the flight to ZZZ1 and going over my flow for the thru flight. I had loaded the flight plan into the FMS and had everything ready for our departure out of ZZZ. I was kinda distracted from making sure I followed the non-tower procedures and making sure we got our ATC clearance on taxi out since we only had 10 minutes till clearance would be void. I had briefed up the standard takeoff briefing. Then we ran the Preflight checklist. Once we had communication with the ground crew on intercom and the Captain told the ground crew they could remove stairs and chalks. We ran the before start checklist to completion. After stairs and chalks were removed ground crew said we were clear to start engines. We started engine 2 without any issues. Then we were cleared to start engine 1. As engine 1 got to around 40% N1. The Captain noticed the aircraft was moving and stopped the aircraft with the brakes then the Captain set the parking brake. We saw the ground crew running towards the marshaller. The Captain called into Operations radio frequency to have the ground crew to plug back into the aircraft so he could talk to him on intercom. The Captain made sure he was not hurt or anything was damaged on the aircraft. The ground personnel said he was good and the aircraft had no damage. He said all equipment was clear of the aircraft and we were good to go. He unplugged from the aircraft. We ran the after start checklist and then began to taxi off the ramp. The rest of the flight was completed successfully with no issues. Contributing Factors - non-maintenance procedures at small gateway- out of flow with no face to face with maintenance personnel to go over start procedures; non-tower airfield ops; dark environment with heavy rain; pressure to make up time because running behind on departure from gateway. - making sure we contact ZZZ Center to get out clearance on taxi outLesson Learned Make I verify when Items are called on the checklist are completed or accomplished and not just rushing thru the checklist. Always back up the each other to verify items are accomplished on the checklist. Also not getting distracted from not normal procedures like when at non tower airfields. These distractions can lead to safety issues with the flight.
Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.