B767 WAS PUSHED BACK ONTO AN ACTIVE TXWY WITHOUT CLRNC.
Synopsis
B767 WAS PUSHED BACK ONTO AN ACTIVE TXWY WITHOUT CLRNC.
Narrative
PARKED AT BOS GATE AB. CALLED ON 121.65 PER PDC AND REQUESTED PUSHBACK CLRNC. HEARD 'CLR TO PUSH; CONTACT GND.' I TOOK THIS TO MEAN CONTACT GND BEFORE ENTERING TXWY A; SINCE THE COMMERCIAL PUB 'GREEN PAGE' FOR BOS HAS A CAUTION: 'DO NOT ENTER TXWY A WITHOUT CLRNC FROM GND CTL.' THE TUG DRIVER PUSHED US BACKWARDS TOWARDS TXWY A AND DID NOT GET CLRNC FROM THE COCKPIT CREW TO PUSH BACK ONTO TXWY A. JUST AS I REALIZED THE TUG MIGHT ENCROACH TXWY A; I TOLD HIM TO STOP. AT THE SAME TIME; GND CTL (121.9) TOLD US TO STOP AND GOT UPSET. I TOLD THE CAPT TO TELL THE TUG DRIVER TO GO 'FORWARDS' (RELATIVE TO THE AIRPLANE). THE TUG DRIVER WENT 'FORWARDS' RELATIVE TO HIMSELF AND WE MAY HAVE ENCROACHED TXWY A. I GOT HIM TO STOP AGAIN AND THEN PULL THE AIRPLANE INTO THE ALLEY; TURN US AROUND; AND PULL US; AIRPLANE NOSE FIRST; TOWARDS TXWY A; AS GND CTL EXPECTED. THE TUG DRIVER SAID HE 'THOUGHT THEY WANTED US TO PUSH ONTO TXWY AS LONG AS WE DIDN'T BLOCK TXWY C...I WISH THEY WOULD MAKE UP THEIR MIND.' IN ANY CASE; THE COCKPIT CREW NEVER TOLD THE TUG HE WAS CLRED TO PUSH ONTO TXWY A AND THE DRIVER NEVER ASKED US NOR INSTRUCTED US AS TO WHAT HE WAS ABOUT TO DO. COCKPIT CREW REACTION TO THE SIT WAS SLOWED DUE TO FATIGUE FROM AN 'ALL NIGHTER' THE PREVIOUS NIGHT AND INTERMITTENT REST DURING THE DAY AT A NOISY ARPT HOTEL. SUPPLEMENTAL INFO FROM ACN 414230: I WOULD LIKE TO MAKE THE FOLLOWING OBSERVATIONS: 1) TUG DRIVERS SHOULD KNOW WHERE THEY CAN AND CANNOT PUSH ACFT BECAUSE THEY DO THIS TIME AFTER TIME FROM THE SAME GATES; WHEREAS WE AS A FLC MAY ONLY BE AT THE ARPT AND GATE 'ONCE IN A BLUE MOON.' 2) THERE ARE TOO MANY DIFFERENT 'AGENCIES' AND FREQS INVOLVED IN PUSHBACKS: CLRNC DELIVERY; RAMP TWR; DIFFERENT GND CTL FREQS; ETC. THIS INVITES ERROR AND CONFUSION!
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Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.