A flight crew reported communication difficulties with their pushback crew during pushback at lga. T...

Narrative:

After receiving push clearance from ramp and lga ground control (ground control); I advised the push crew via interphone at least six times; at push [and] at points during push; that we were cleared to push onto taxiway a; tail east. Every response (when heard) was 'roger; cleared to spot 3'. I gave up explaining and decided to give 'progressives' during the push. At spot 3; I was asked to set brakes. I responded with 'I can set brakes; but we are not disconnecting here. We need to keep going onto taxiway a'. I was told to standby and could overhear a partial discussion about the push with other ramp personnel. Lga ground control wasn't happy our push onto taxiway a was taking so long; leading to revised clearances to subsequently wait for other aircraft to taxi by. During the push; there were several times I tried to confirm or clarify with the push crew as to exactly where and how the push was to be accomplished--at which time I received no response. Once pulled onto taxiway a; the push crew inexplicably repositioned the aircraft in a rearward direction. As I was transmitting as to why; ground control told us to stop our push. I immediately commanded the push crew to stop the pushback. I received no response. The aircraft continued in a rearward direction for another 30 feet; while I desperately tried to make some kind of contact with the push crew by flashing the taxi light. The aircraft finally stopped and comm was established. I asked him if he heard any of my transmissions. His reply: 'I cannot talk [and] listen to you while I am driving the tug. Only when I stop the tug and get out'. Unbelievable. That explains why we seemingly had intermittent communications. At no time while the aircraft was in motion did I have positive communication with the push crew. An incredibly dangerous situation. I was unable to control the motion and positioning of the aircraft from my direction or indirectly from lga ground control on an active taxiway.my lesson learned: at the first indication and at any point during the pushback; the pushback crew may not be receiving any of my transmissions of any nature; flash the taxi light in hopes of stopping the aircraft and investigate. Even if it is a short simple straight back.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A flight crew reported communication difficulties with their pushback crew during pushback at LGA. The instructions from Ground Control were somewhat complicated and the flight crew was unable to talk to the tug driver while he was operating the tug.

Narrative: After receiving push clearance from ramp and LGA Ground Control (GC); I advised the push crew via interphone at least SIX times; at push [and] at points during push; that we were cleared to push onto taxiway A; tail east. EVERY response (when heard) was 'Roger; cleared to spot 3'. I gave up explaining and decided to give 'progressives' during the push. At Spot 3; I was asked to set brakes. I responded with 'I can set brakes; but we are not disconnecting here. We need to keep going onto taxiway A'. I was told to standby and could overhear a partial discussion about the push with other ramp personnel. LGA GC wasn't happy our push onto taxiway A was taking so long; leading to revised clearances to subsequently wait for other aircraft to taxi by. During the push; there were several times I tried to confirm or clarify with the push crew as to exactly where and how the push was to be accomplished--AT WHICH TIME I RECEIVED NO RESPONSE. Once pulled onto taxiway A; the push crew inexplicably repositioned the aircraft in a rearward direction. As I was transmitting as to why; GC told us to stop our push. I immediately commanded the push crew to STOP THE PUSHBACK. I RECEIVED NO RESPONSE. The aircraft continued in a rearward direction for another 30 feet; while I desperately tried to make some kind of contact with the push crew by flashing the taxi light. The aircraft finally stopped and comm was established. I asked him if he heard any of my transmissions. His reply: 'I cannot talk [and] listen to you while I am driving the tug. Only when I stop the tug and get out'. Unbelievable. That explains why we seemingly had intermittent communications. At no time while the aircraft was in motion did I have positive communication with the push crew. An incredibly dangerous situation. I was unable to control the motion and positioning of the aircraft from my direction or indirectly from LGA GC on an active taxiway.My Lesson Learned: At the first indication and at any point during the pushback; the pushback crew may not be receiving ANY of my transmissions of any nature; flash the taxi light in hopes of stopping the aircraft and investigate. Even if it is a short simple straight back.

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	1347544
Time
Date	201604
Local Time Of Day	0001-0600
Place
Locale Reference	LGA.Airport
State Reference	NY
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Large Transport Low Wing 2 Turbojet Eng
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Taxi
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Function	Captain Pilot Flying
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 250 Flight Crew Total 13527 Flight Crew Type 235
Person 2
Function	First Officer Pilot Not Flying
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Experience	Flight Crew Total 6606 Flight Crew Type 744
Events
Anomaly	Deviation - Procedural Clearance Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy Ground Event / Encounter Other / Unknown Ground Incursion Taxiway

A flight crew reported communication difficulties with their pushback crew during pushback at lga. The instructions from ground control were somewhat complicated and the flight crew was unable to talk to the tug driver while he was operating the tug.