AN ACR FO REPORTED ACCIDENTALLY LEAVING AN ENG RUNNING AFTER PARKING AT THE GATE. HE CITES FATIGUE AND DISTRACTION AS FACTORS IN THE INCIDENT.

Date: 2008-09 · Aircraft: A320 · Phase: ground

Anomalies: deviation-discrepancy-procedural-far|deviation-discrepancy-procedural-published-material-policy

Synopsis

AN ACR FO REPORTED ACCIDENTALLY LEAVING AN ENG RUNNING AFTER PARKING AT THE GATE. HE CITES FATIGUE AND DISTRACTION AS FACTORS IN THE INCIDENT.

Narrative

WE ARRIVED AT THE GATE AND COMPLETED THE SHUTDOWN CHKLIST. AFTER THE PAX DEPLANED; THE CAPT WENT INTO THE TERMINAL AND I REMAINED ON BOARD. THE GND CREW MAN CALLED ON THE INTERPHONE TO TELL ME THE GND PWR WAS CONNECTED. I CONFIRMED THAT WE WERE USING IT AND THANKED HIM. I GOT UP TO TALK TO THE PURSER FOR A COUPLE MINS; THEN RETURNED TO THE COCKPIT AND STARTED LOADING THE FMGC. THE GND CREW MAN CALLED AGAIN AND ASKED WHEN WE WERE GOING TO SHUT DOWN THE #1 ENG. I LOOKED OVER AND; TO MY AMAZEMENT; IT WAS STILL RUNNING! I THANKED HIM AGAIN AND SHUT IT DOWN. I CAN'T REMEMBER THE LAST TIME I DID SOMETHING SO MORONIC. I THINK THERE ARE 4 FACTORS THAT CAUSED ME TO MISS THIS IMPORTANT ITEM. FIRST; CHRONIC FATIGUE. MOST PLTS I HAVE TALKED TO AGREE THAT AT THIS POINT IN THE PROGRAM; A FEW DAYS OFF AT HOME GETS YOU RESTED ENOUGH TO FLY; BUT NOT UP TO 100% ALL THE TIME. ONLY EXTENDED TIME AWAY WILL DO THAT; AND IT'S ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE ANYMORE TO GET A TRIP DROP BTWN TWICE A YR VACATIONS. SECONDLY; ACUTE FATIGUE. ALL LAST MONTH I FLEW LATE TRIPS; GETTING UP LATE AND FINISHING LATE. AFTER A FEW DAYS OFF; I AM FLYING AN EARLY TRIP WITH AN XA30 BRAIN-TIME WAKE-UP. EVEN THOUGH I SLEPT OK; I THINK THAT IT DOESN'T TAKE AS MUCH AS IT NORMALLY DOES TO BECOME TIRED AGAIN. I DIDN'T REALLY FEEL TIRED; BUT PERFORMANCE SUFFERS BEFORE YOU REALLY NOTICE IT. THIRDLY; DISTRS. THIS WAS THE SECOND DAY THAT WE FLEW THIS PARTICULAR AIRPLANE THAT HAD A RECURRING WRITE-UP OF BOTH ACARS LOCKING UP. AFTER EVERY FLT; MINE SEEMED TO LOCK UP AS THE CABIN DOOR WAS OPENED SO I COULD NOT SEND THE 'IN' RPT. I CAN'T SPECIFICALLY REMEMBER THE SEQUENCE OF ACTIONS; BUT I DO REMEMBER SCREWING WITH THE ACARS TRYING TO SEND THE 'IN' RPT ABOUT THE SAME TIME AS SHUTTING DOWN. I SUSPECT THAT I LOST MY SEQUENCE OF ACTIONS; TRIED TO FIX THE ACARS AND THEN FORGOT ABOUT THE ENG. LASTLY; COMPLACENCY. WE DO THE CHKLIST MULTIPLE TIMES A DAY; MULTIPLE DAYS A MONTH AND CAN DO IT ROTE WHILE SLEEPING. I HAVE ALWAYS MADE A CONSCIOUS EFFORT TO ACTUALLY LOOK AT THE ITEMS AS THE CAPT RESPONDS; SO I WAS BLOWN AWAY THAT I ACTUALLY MISSED THE ENG MASTER SWITCH ON AND THE ACTUAL FUEL FLOW. I GUESS IT WAS A CASE OF SEEING IT AND NOT REALIZING WHAT I WAS SEEING; AS I 'SAW' WHAT I EXPECTED TO SEE. THAT THE SAME THING HAPPENED TO THE CAPT AT THE SAME TIME IS REALLY SCARY. WHAT ARE THE ODDS? I FEEL COMPLETELY EMBARRASSED THAT I COULD DO THIS AND AM JUST GLAD NO ONE GOT HURT. YOU CAN NEVER BE TOO CAREFUL NO MATTER HOW CAREFUL YOU THINK YOU ARE BEING.

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