Narrative:

[I] was towing a B767-300 aircraft from gate to the maintenance base. I hooked-up the towbar to the aircraft and proceeded to prepare the aircraft for pushback. After the jetway was pulled and [ramp] envelope cleared; I contacted the brake rider to turn on hydraulics and release brakes while I contacted the ramp controller for clearance. After receiving push back clearance; I pushed back into the open area. Once my pushback was completed; I contacted ramp control again for clearance to proceed forward. I was given clearance to proceed up the north line to spot X and contact ground control. Once I arrived at spot X; I contacted ground control for clearance from spot X to the east gate of our maintenance base. I was cleared to taxi to alpha-1 and told to hold. Once I arrived to my hold area; ground control instructed me to wait for company aircraft to pass from right to left; then proceed via alpha-1/yankee and to hold short at spot xa. While making my turn off of alpha-1 onto yankee; I heard a metallic rattle from behind me. I immediately looked over my shoulder to see what the problem was when I noticed I was separated from the aircraft. I than called [out] 'break-away' over my headset to the cockpit; but noticed that the communication's cord had already sheared. I then contacted ground control to notify them that I had a break-away from my towed aircraft and requested airfield safety assistance. I then contacted my supervisor over the maintenance frequency that I needed his presence at taxiway yankee and that an incident had occurred.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A Tug Driver and a Brake Rider in the flight deck of a B767-300 lost communications with each other after the tug and tow bar became disconnected.

Narrative: [I] was towing a B767-300 aircraft from Gate to the Maintenance Base. I hooked-up the towbar to the aircraft and proceeded to prepare the aircraft for pushback. After the jetway was pulled and [Ramp] envelope cleared; I contacted the Brake Rider to turn on hydraulics and release brakes while I contacted the Ramp Controller for clearance. After receiving push back clearance; I pushed back into the open area. Once my pushback was completed; I contacted Ramp Control again for clearance to proceed forward. I was given clearance to proceed up the north line to Spot X and contact Ground Control. Once I arrived at Spot X; I contacted Ground Control for clearance from Spot X to the east gate of our Maintenance Base. I was cleared to taxi to Alpha-1 and told to hold. Once I arrived to my hold area; Ground Control instructed me to wait for company aircraft to pass from right to left; then proceed via Alpha-1/Yankee and to hold short at Spot XA. While making my turn off of Alpha-1 onto Yankee; I heard a metallic rattle from behind me. I immediately looked over my shoulder to see what the problem was when I noticed I was separated from the aircraft. I than called [out] 'break-away' over my headset to the cockpit; but noticed that the communication's cord had already sheared. I then contacted Ground Control to notify them that I had a break-away from my towed aircraft and requested Airfield Safety assistance. I then contacted my Supervisor over the Maintenance frequency that I needed his presence at Taxiway Yankee and that an incident had occurred.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2013 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.