An air carrier Flight Crew realized after tow bar disconnect that the aircraft was moving and quickly set the brake; narrowly avoiding a collision with ground equipment and personnel.
Synopsis
An air carrier Flight Crew realized after tow bar disconnect that the aircraft was moving and quickly set the brake; narrowly avoiding a collision with ground equipment and personnel.
Narrative
During a quick turn an inoperative APU was discovered; called in; and MEL'd. As this was being done passengers were loaded. Gate Agent had requested that additional passengers be added if weight permitted. FO determined that passengers could be added and they were brought aboard. Paperwork was handed out while Captain received clearance from ground crew to start #2 with ground power. After #2 start and closing of cabin door pushback clearance was obtained and Ground Crew was told to push. During the push the Captain determined that added passengers had not been updated on the form (the F/O had entered the weights added to the wt/balance calculation; however). It was decided that the Pushback Crew could be requested to correct the passenger count on the form. The Pushback Crew had finished the push and were disconnecting the tug as the Captain and F/O gestured to gain their attention. They plugged their headset back in and were requested to correct the passenger count on the load manifest. They unplugged the headset and everyone 'thumbed up' as the tug/towbar pulled away. The F/O received ramp clearance to taxi. Before all flows and after start checklists could be completed aircraft began to roll. Parking brake was discovered to be not set and AC generator had not yet come on line. Aircraft rolled about 3 feet and parking brake was set to stop movement with a noticeable jolt. Flight Attendant was contacted to determine that passengers and cabin was OK (Even though jolt was noticeable; a water bottle on cockpit floor had not fallen over). Checklists/flows were completed and single engine taxi was commenced. Time pressure/task loading/distraction caused interruption to normal pushback/brake setting flow. Emphasize proper vigilance during paperwork procedures to ensure overlooked items do not cause distractions to later steps. Ensure undivided attention to pushback procedures is maintained to prevent omission of proper brake setting/signals.
Second reporter narrative
We were not connected via headset to the Push Crew so the Captain began waving his hands at the Ground Crew and motioned for them to write two more passengers on the paperwork; all while coming to a stop. It was at this point the Captain forgot to set the parking brake and immediately began adding two more passengers to our load form. I did not notice the parking brake had not been set and was watching the Ground Crew disconnect. I looked down for a moment when the ground crew had disconnected and suddenly realized that we were moving. I looked over at the Captain to see if this was intentional and saw him busy adding the two passengers into the count. At this point the tug driver floored it to get away from the engine and the other ramp worker sprinted next to it to avoid a certain doom. I was unable to use my brakes to stop the aircraft because the normal brakes were not on line. As soon as I realized that we were moving unintentionally I yelled to the Captain; 'We're moving! We're moving;' to which he looked up and suddenly saw us encroaching on the fuel truck and applied the parking brake. There was the standard whiplash affect and the airplane stopped. The aircraft moved somewhere between 5-10 feet.
Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.