Narrative:

Aircraft X; a B767 aircraft; sustained very serious damage to the nose gear when ramp [personnel] over-extended the [turning] limits [of nose gear] on pushback; resulting in a broken towbar. Ramp saluted the taxi crew off and did not report this until the taxi crew discovered they had no steering when they started to taxi away. This report is not about the B767 aircraft as much as it is about what has been uncovered in the aftermath of this incident. After aircraft X sat on jacks in the hangar for a week; many aircraft maintenance technicians (amts) came forward with concerns that towbars were being broken daily at ZZZ during pushback by ramp and not being reported; therefore nose gear inspections are not being carried out on these aircraft. Upon further investigation it turns out that as of august 2013; 364 towbars have been broken at ZZZ. Yet; only a very small number of incidents have been called in to maintenance for an aircraft nose gear inspection. Talking to ramp personnel regarding this issue; the answers varied from: 'if I report the broken towbar I will get in trouble'; to 'we are told unless the pilots have a problem it is ok'; to 'we tell our supervisor after the push.' this is a very serious issue and 364 [towbars] in eight months is a staggering number. How many of those aircraft sustained damage and have not been inspected. Per our air carrier's ground equipment repair shop; the broken towbars usually get called in [to the shop] early in the morning or late at night and usually they are 'found' broken; i.e.; not called in by the person who actually damaged the towbar; which means no inspection was carried out on the [affected] aircraft. This is a very serious safety issue for our air carrier. Ramp personnel need to be properly trained on pushback and most importantly; if they oversteer [a nose gear] or break a towbar; it needs to be reported and called in so the aircraft can be properly inspected by maintenance at the time of the incident and documentation of the inspection entered in the aircraft's records in accordance with (in accordance with) the aircraft maintenance manual (amm).

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: An Aircraft Maintenance Technician (AMT) reports that numerous towbars are broken daily during aircraft pushbacks by Ramp personnel and are seldom reported to Maintenance. As a result; Nose Gear Inspections are not being carried out on the affected aircraft. Ramp personnel cite concerns about 'getting in trouble if they report; or 'tell their Supervisor after aircraft has left'; or 'it's okay unless the pilot has a problem'.

Narrative: Aircraft X; a B767 aircraft; sustained very serious damage to the nose gear when Ramp [personnel] over-extended the [turning] limits [of nose gear] on pushback; resulting in a broken towbar. Ramp saluted the taxi crew off and did not report this until the taxi crew discovered they had no steering when they started to taxi away. This report is not about the B767 aircraft as much as it is about what has been uncovered in the aftermath of this incident. After Aircraft X sat on jacks in the hangar for a week; many Aircraft Maintenance Technicians (AMTs) came forward with concerns that towbars were being broken daily at ZZZ during pushback by Ramp and not being reported; therefore nose gear inspections are not being carried out on these aircraft. Upon further investigation it turns out that as of August 2013; 364 towbars have been broken at ZZZ. Yet; only a very small number of incidents have been called in to Maintenance for an Aircraft Nose Gear Inspection. Talking to Ramp personnel regarding this issue; the answers varied from: 'If I report the broken towbar I will get in trouble'; to 'We are told unless the pilots have a problem it is ok'; to 'We tell our supervisor after the push.' This is a very serious issue and 364 [towbars] in eight months is a staggering number. How many of those aircraft sustained damage and have not been inspected. Per our Air Carrier's Ground Equipment Repair Shop; the broken towbars usually get called in [to the Shop] early in the morning or late at night and usually they are 'found' broken; i.e.; not called in by the person who actually damaged the towbar; which means no inspection was carried out on the [affected] aircraft. This is a very serious safety issue for our air carrier. Ramp personnel need to be properly trained on pushback and most importantly; if they oversteer [a nose gear] or break a towbar; it needs to be reported and called in so the aircraft can be properly inspected by Maintenance at the time of the incident and documentation of the inspection entered in the aircraft's records In Accordance With (IAW) the Aircraft Maintenance Manual (AMM).

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.