An A321 captain reported that during ground de-ice procedures a ground employee came so close to a r...

Narrative:

[We were] dispatched with inoperative APU due to APU inlet icing while operating in freezing rain. Directed to proceed to de-ice pad and contacted 'snowman' on assigned frequency. Detailed APU problem and notified them 4 to 6 times that we had 'both engines running'. Asked if we would de-ice with both engines on or one off? Informed as we entered spot X on pad to shut down #1/left engine for de-ice/anti-ice fluid application. As we parked brakes and prepared to shut down engine; snowman informed us that de-ice personnel had approached aircraft 'too soon' and had headset sucked into #1/left engine. After ensuring employee was safe and unharmed; we contacted ATC; operations; maintenance and ramp and returned to gate.better communications among de-icing crew. Coordinators are talking on both VHF and mobile radios to their crew. Patience and safety awareness by ground crew. Have noted less 'care and respect' for airbus. Not afforded the same inlet or exhaust awareness as the 737/757 fleets. This is still a 'real aircraft' and the engines have similar danger areas.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: An A321 Captain reported that during ground de-ice procedures a ground employee came so close to a running engine his headset was sucked into the nacelle.

Narrative: [We were] dispatched with inoperative APU due to APU inlet icing while operating in freezing rain. Directed to proceed to De-Ice pad and contacted 'Snowman' on assigned frequency. Detailed APU problem and notified them 4 to 6 times that we had 'both engines running'. Asked if we would de-ice with both engines on or one off? Informed as we entered Spot X on pad to shut down #1/left Engine for de-ice/anti-ice fluid application. As we parked brakes and prepared to shut down engine; Snowman informed us that De-Ice Personnel had approached aircraft 'too soon' and had headset sucked into #1/left engine. After ensuring employee was safe and unharmed; we contacted ATC; Operations; Maintenance and Ramp and returned to gate.Better communications among de-icing crew. Coordinators are talking on both VHF and Mobile radios to their crew. Patience and safety awareness by ground crew. Have noted less 'care and respect' for Airbus. Not afforded the same inlet or exhaust awareness as the 737/757 fleets. This is still a 'real aircraft' and the engines have similar danger areas.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site 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.

Attributes
ACN	1243526
Time
Date	201502
Local Time Of Day	0601-1200
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.Airport
State Reference	US
Environment
Flight Conditions	Marginal
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	A321
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Taxi
Flight Plan	None
Person 1
Function	Captain Pilot Flying
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Events
Anomaly	Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy Ground Event / Encounter Other / Unknown

An A321 captain reported that during ground de-ice procedures a ground employee came so close to a running engine his headset was sucked into the nacelle.