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Air carrier captain reported being blinded by the tug's headlights after pushback; negatively affecting ramp safety.
| Attributes | |
| ACN | 1518058 |
| Time | |
| Date | 201802 |
| Local Time Of Day | 1201-1800 |
| Place | |
| Locale Reference | MDW.Airport |
| State Reference | IL |
| Environment | |
| Light | Night |
| 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 194 |
| Events | |
| Anomaly | Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy Ground Event / Encounter Other / Unknown |
Narrative:
After clearing the pushback crew (four agents) and after a nice pushback from [the] gate; the driver turned on the headlights (led) on the tow truck and essentially blinded me from seeing anything inside and around the cab. Communications were cut off when one of the wing walkers disconnected the headset. I was able to see him but I could not see inside the cab to verify that the fourth individual on the team was inside the cab. This is a dangerous situation for many reasons; one major one being disrupting the crew's nighttime visual acuity; which in turn led me to not being able to see inside the cab. This happens at numerous stations. Please instruct the cab drivers to avoid turning on the headlights until the cab is turned away from the flight deck at night or when back to the safety zone. When they are going backwards; they do not need the headlights anyway!
Original NASA ASRS Text
Title: Air carrier Captain reported being blinded by the tug's headlights after pushback; negatively affecting ramp safety.
Narrative: After clearing the Pushback Crew (four Agents) and after a nice pushback from [the] Gate; the Driver turned on the headlights (LED) on the tow truck and essentially blinded me from seeing anything inside and around the cab. Communications were cut off when one of the Wing Walkers disconnected the headset. I was able to see him but I could not see inside the cab to verify that the fourth individual on the team was inside the cab. This is a dangerous situation for many reasons; one major one being disrupting the Crew's nighttime visual acuity; which in turn led me to not being able to see inside the cab. This happens at numerous stations. Please instruct the Cab Drivers to avoid turning on the headlights until the cab is turned away from the flight deck at night or when back to the Safety Zone. When they are going backwards; they do not need the headlights anyway!
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.