Narrative:

Ground control cleared us to enter the ramp from the active taxiway. After we turned into the ramp we continued and saw that a B737 was just starting to be pushed by a tug from the far end of the ramp. We had already entered the ramp and we were past the point where our aircraft could be turned around. The crew in the tug kept pushing the other aircraft toward our aircraft. The captain wondered if the crew was going to stop their push or continue to push the aircraft into us. We were close to our parking spot and the other aircraft was much further away. The captain moved slightly to the right to avoid the towed aircraft in case they did continue. This was the safest option as it allowed us to be out of the way of the towed aircraft; be seen by the towed aircraft better or reach our gate and not be under threat of the aircraft being pushed into us. The push crew of the B737 appeared to want to push past the location where we had entered the ramp. There was no communication with the push crew on ground or operations frequency which also added to the lack of situational awareness. The tower cannot see this part of the airport and can clear aircraft in or out of the ramp when there may not be room for more than one aircraft at the time. None of the push crew seemed to be concerned by the fact that another aircraft was being pushed directly at our nose. Do not allow push crews to continue without any communication to other aircraft on the ramp. Make sure that when the layout of a ramp is long and skinny that no aircraft from the far end are pushed when it is not clear to push them all the way to the location they are trying to reach without communication with anyone else. If there is ever any doubt when pushing a towed empty aircraft toward the nose of another aircraft with no communication on the part of the tow crew; the tow crew should stop moving. This threat could have been fully avoided by the tow crew not continuing toward the nose of another aircraft that is unable to back up or turn around.

Related reports:

Google
 

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: First Officer reported lack of communication between with a pushback crew; resulting in a critical ground conflict.

Narrative: Ground Control cleared us to enter the ramp from the active taxiway. After we turned into the ramp we continued and saw that a B737 was just starting to be pushed by a tug from the far end of the ramp. We had already entered the ramp and we were past the point where our aircraft could be turned around. The crew in the tug kept pushing the other aircraft toward our aircraft. The Captain wondered if the crew was going to stop their push or continue to push the aircraft into us. We were close to our parking spot and the other aircraft was much further away. The Captain moved slightly to the right to avoid the towed aircraft in case they did continue. This was the safest option as it allowed us to be out of the way of the towed aircraft; be seen by the towed aircraft better or reach our gate and not be under threat of the aircraft being pushed into us. The push crew of the B737 appeared to want to push past the location where we had entered the ramp. There was no communication with the push crew on Ground or Operations frequency which also added to the lack of situational awareness. The Tower cannot see this part of the airport and can clear aircraft in or out of the ramp when there may not be room for more than one aircraft at the time. None of the push crew seemed to be concerned by the fact that another aircraft was being pushed directly at our nose. Do not allow push crews to continue without any communication to other aircraft on the ramp. Make sure that when the layout of a ramp is long and skinny that no aircraft from the far end are pushed when it is not clear to push them all the way to the location they are trying to reach without communication with anyone else. If there is ever any doubt when pushing a towed empty aircraft toward the nose of another aircraft with no communication on the part of the tow crew; the tow crew should stop moving. This threat could have been fully avoided by the tow crew not continuing toward the nose of another aircraft that is unable to back up or turn around.

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.