Narrative:

Upon pushback, ground crew allowed aircraft tail to encroach over a 'hold' short line. No other aircraft was on the ground, nor were there any on the runway. Ground control made mention of it to us via radio. Said it was not a problem but to tell the pushback crew to be more careful. Captain was monitoring the aircraft and I was communicating with company for a question about our release and obtaining our numbers. It was impossible to see where the tail of the aircraft was from our vantage point in the cockpit. This airport, burbank/glendale/pasadena has the terminal alongside 2 intersecting runways. The terminal has just enough room to park small commercial aircraft at the gates. In my opinion, the location of the terminal to the runways is an accident waiting to happen. The prevailing runway for arrs and departures places the terminal in jeopardy of a collision if a blown tire or other cause makes departure from the runway occur. Aircraft having to maneuver into/out of gate areas are dangerously close to the protected areas. Ground pushback crews are sometimes not aware or maybe concerned (even training), and sometimes allow aircraft to be in a protected zone. Maybe more training or different procedures need to be in place to prevent another occurrence. This is not the first time this has occurred. There is just not enough room to adequately maneuver large commercial aircraft in the given area. Callback conversation with reporter revealed the following information: reporter stated this report was submitted mainly to exempt the flight crew from any responsibility. Reporter main concern that bur operations are in tight quarters and a slight error could be catastrophic. There's also a central air safety committee policy urging flcs to report any slight irregularity during bur ground operations. Reporter felt ground crew was new and not fully aware of all the parts of an aircraft that can extend into an unsafe area of arriving and departing aircraft. He also feels that many of the ground crew are new. They are trained with enough knowledge to accomplish the pushback but lack the experience of what to look for and what to do to make all ground movements safe during all aircraft movements.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: AN MD82 PUSHES BACK FROM THE GATE AT BUR, CA, AND WITH THE CLOSE PROX OF THE RWY, PART OF THE ACFT EXTENDS INTO THE RWY AREA. TWR REMINDS FLC TO CAUTION THE GND CREW TO BE MORE VIGILANT DURING PUSHBACK MANEUVERS.

Narrative: UPON PUSHBACK, GND CREW ALLOWED ACFT TAIL TO ENCROACH OVER A 'HOLD' SHORT LINE. NO OTHER ACFT WAS ON THE GND, NOR WERE THERE ANY ON THE RWY. GND CTL MADE MENTION OF IT TO US VIA RADIO. SAID IT WAS NOT A PROB BUT TO TELL THE PUSHBACK CREW TO BE MORE CAREFUL. CAPT WAS MONITORING THE ACFT AND I WAS COMMUNICATING WITH COMPANY FOR A QUESTION ABOUT OUR RELEASE AND OBTAINING OUR NUMBERS. IT WAS IMPOSSIBLE TO SEE WHERE THE TAIL OF THE ACFT WAS FROM OUR VANTAGE POINT IN THE COCKPIT. THIS ARPT, BURBANK/GLENDALE/PASADENA HAS THE TERMINAL ALONGSIDE 2 INTERSECTING RWYS. THE TERMINAL HAS JUST ENOUGH ROOM TO PARK SMALL COMMERCIAL ACFT AT THE GATES. IN MY OPINION, THE LOCATION OF THE TERMINAL TO THE RWYS IS AN ACCIDENT WAITING TO HAPPEN. THE PREVAILING RWY FOR ARRS AND DEPS PLACES THE TERMINAL IN JEOPARDY OF A COLLISION IF A BLOWN TIRE OR OTHER CAUSE MAKES DEP FROM THE RWY OCCUR. ACFT HAVING TO MANEUVER INTO/OUT OF GATE AREAS ARE DANGEROUSLY CLOSE TO THE PROTECTED AREAS. GND PUSHBACK CREWS ARE SOMETIMES NOT AWARE OR MAYBE CONCERNED (EVEN TRAINING), AND SOMETIMES ALLOW ACFT TO BE IN A PROTECTED ZONE. MAYBE MORE TRAINING OR DIFFERENT PROCS NEED TO BE IN PLACE TO PREVENT ANOTHER OCCURRENCE. THIS IS NOT THE FIRST TIME THIS HAS OCCURRED. THERE IS JUST NOT ENOUGH ROOM TO ADEQUATELY MANEUVER LARGE COMMERCIAL ACFT IN THE GIVEN AREA. CALLBACK CONVERSATION WITH RPTR REVEALED THE FOLLOWING INFO: RPTR STATED THIS RPT WAS SUBMITTED MAINLY TO EXEMPT THE FLC FROM ANY RESPONSIBILITY. RPTR MAIN CONCERN THAT BUR OPS ARE IN TIGHT QUARTERS AND A SLIGHT ERROR COULD BE CATASTROPHIC. THERE'S ALSO A CENTRAL AIR SAFETY COMMITTEE POLICY URGING FLCS TO RPT ANY SLIGHT IRREGULARITY DURING BUR GND OPS. RPTR FELT GND CREW WAS NEW AND NOT FULLY AWARE OF ALL THE PARTS OF AN ACFT THAT CAN EXTEND INTO AN UNSAFE AREA OF ARRIVING AND DEPARTING ACFT. HE ALSO FEELS THAT MANY OF THE GND CREW ARE NEW. THEY ARE TRAINED WITH ENOUGH KNOWLEDGE TO ACCOMPLISH THE PUSHBACK BUT LACK THE EXPERIENCE OF WHAT TO LOOK FOR AND WHAT TO DO TO MAKE ALL GND MOVEMENTS SAFE DURING ALL ACFT MOVEMENTS.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2007 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.