Narrative:

I was in the pushback for [the] flight. We were early. I had the headset on; and could hear the pilots. All of a sudden; the plane rocked back an inch or two; jolting the pushback tractor. Luckily the jet bridge was pulled; the chocks were pulled; and our pushback was hooked up. I could hear the pilot instructing/teaching the first officer about the maneuver he just pulled. Something about him putting his foot on a pedal. After establishing contact with the flight deck; I challenged him on what he just did.dialogue:me: 'are you guys doing some training up there?'captain: 'haha; yeah; why do you ask?'me: 'because you released the brakes without permission.'captain: 'oh; but I kept my foot on the pedal while I did it.'me: 'sure; then why did the plane rock back and inch or two? You guys are supposed to ask for permission otherwise I risk losing a finger pulling the chocks.'captain: 'ok boss.'seeing as this captain was conducting training on this flight; as well as breaking protocol in an unsafe manner; I feel this issue needs to be addressed. This type of behavior has been happening for a long time; and it certainly doesn't need to be perpetuated into the future. On time is great; getting pilots paid is great; but jeopardizing the safety of others and the safety of the aircraft is not.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Driver of a pushback tractor reported the Captain deviated from SOP when he released the brakes without coordination with ground personnel.

Narrative: I was in the pushback for [the] flight. We were early. I had the headset on; and could hear the pilots. All of a sudden; the plane rocked back an inch or two; jolting the pushback tractor. Luckily the jet bridge was pulled; the chocks were pulled; and our pushback was hooked up. I could hear the pilot instructing/teaching the first officer about the maneuver he just pulled. Something about him putting his foot on a pedal. After establishing contact with the flight deck; I challenged him on what he just did.Dialogue:ME: 'Are you guys doing some training up there?'Captain: 'Haha; yeah; why do you ask?'ME: 'Because you released the brakes without permission.'Captain: 'Oh; but I kept my foot on the pedal while I did it.'ME: 'Sure; then why did the plane rock back and inch or two? You guys are supposed to ask for permission otherwise I risk losing a finger pulling the chocks.'Captain: 'Ok boss.'Seeing as this Captain was conducting training on this flight; as well as breaking protocol in an unsafe manner; I feel this issue needs to be addressed. This type of behavior has been happening for a long time; and it certainly doesn't need to be perpetuated into the future. On time is great; getting pilots paid is great; but jeopardizing the safety of others and the safety of the aircraft is not.

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.