B767 FLT CREW REFUSED TO ENTER GATE AREA WITH EQUIPMENT LOCATED BEYOND THE 'CLEAR LINES.'
Synopsis
B767 FLT CREW REFUSED TO ENTER GATE AREA WITH EQUIPMENT LOCATED BEYOND THE 'CLEAR LINES.'
Narrative
APCHING THE GATE I OBSERVED NUMEROUS PIECES OF EQUIP (LOADERS; BAG CARTS; TRACTOR; TOWBAR; AND PWR CART) WELL WITHIN THE EQUIP CLR LINES SO I STOPPED THE ACFT SHORT IN ACCORDANCE WITH OUR FLT MANUAL AND RAMP PROCS. WITH THE BRAKE PARKED; I POINTED AND GESTURED TO COMMUNICATE THE NEED TO MOVE THE EQUIP BEYOND THE LINES. THE GUIDE MAN'S IMMEDIATE RESPONSE WAS TO THROW THE ORANGE WANDS TOWARD THE ACFT WITH LIKE A LOOK OF DISGUST. I CALLED OPS AND REQUESTED THE ASSISTANCE OF A RAMP SUPVR WHEN THE RAMP SCENE LOOKED LIKE IT WAS ABOUT TO BOIL OVER. EVENTUALLY; THE INDIVIDUAL; WHO APPEARED TO BE THE SUPVR; COORDINATED THE MOVEMENT OF THE EQUIP AND THEN CONNECTED HIS HEADSET TO THE ACFT. I INFORMED HIM THE EQUIP APPEARED TO BE CLR AND I WAS READY TO MOVE FORWARD. HAZARDOUS INCIDENT. BEFORE THE SUPVR ON THE HEADSET HAD DISCONNECTED AND MOVED SAFELY AWAY FROM THE NOSE GEAR A GUIDE MAN (DIFFERENT FROM THE FIRST GUIDE MAN; I BELIEVE) SIGNALED TO TAXI AHEAD. I NEARLY RELEASED THE BRAKE TO MOVE THE ACFT FORWARD WHEN I REALIZED I HAD NOT SEEN THE SUPVR EMERGE FROM UNDER THE ACFT. IN FACT; HE WAS SILL ON THE HEADSET! SINCE THESE KINDS OF EVENTS OCCUR ON A CONTINUING BASIS; PARTICULARLY AT DOMESTIC LOCATIONS (I ALMOST NEVER SEE A PROB AT INTL STATIONS); AND MGMNT HAS NOT TAKEN STEPS TO CORRECT THE RAMP SAFETY PROBS; I PRESUME THEY ARE MORE CONCERNED WITH ON-TIME PERFORMANCE THAN COMPLYING WITH ESTABLISHED SAFETY RULES. WITH THAT IN MIND; MGMNT SHOULD NOTE THIS FLT WAS DELAYED 12 MINS WAITING FOR THE GATE AREA TO BE CLRED; MAYBE THAT WOULD BE ADEQUATE MOTIVATION TO EFFECT A CHANGE. THIS IS MY 7TH RPT ON THIS SUBJECT JUST SINCE FEB/XA/07. THIS DOES NOT INCLUDE THE NUMEROUS REPORTS I HAVE SUBMITTED CONCERNING THE GATE AREA NOT BEING CLRED FOR ARR.
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Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.