Narrative:

This day was day 3 of a 4-DAY pairing. Our first leg was from city to city with a scheduled 55 min ground time and plane change. Our next flight was ZZZ to another city. During our preparation, we were notified that we would have to hold for some late passenger out of ZZZ3. Our flight was blocked as an XX30 flight with a flight planned time of XX00, so this was of no significance. Everything was proceeding normally with no rushing. At approximately XA50 central time, we began our scheduled XA35 pushback. Flight attendant 'a' told us the cabin was secure and closed the cockpit door. I established contact with the tug driver as my first officer worked on getting the pushback clearance. While the first officer was obtaining clearance, I communicated to the tug driver the normal responses of 'a pumps off, brakes are set.' I received a 'safety zone clear,' and asked to start #2 engine while the first officer was getting push clearance. We started to 'spin' #2 and received our push clearance. I then told the tug driver 'brakes released cleared to push.' everything was normal up to this point. Everything that follows happened in a heartbeat. The airplane had moved approximately 5 or 6 ft, and I felt a jolt vibrate through the airplane as the airplane came to a stop. At the very same instant, the first officer and I heard the cockpit call chime 4 or more times. We also heard screams and shouting coming from behind the cockpit door. I told the first officer to open the cockpit door. He did and we saw that someone was hurt badly and bleeding while laying in the fwd entrance area. I immediately told my first officer to call ground and get paramedics here! I looked back and saw a white tennis shoe and a bloody leg and immediately thought something had happened to our 'C' flight attendant. As it turned out, it was our operations agent who was injured. A couple of passenger, who apparently were of a medical backgnd, immediately assisted with first aid and assisted the flight attendants. Paramedics showed up and the operations agent was taken to the hospital. This all happened in what seemed to be a split second. I later asked the 'a' flight attendant what happened. He said he had to disarm the slide on the door to let the operations agent open the door. He said she had tapped on the door window gesturing with 1 finger and saying '1 more, 1 more.' there was no notification from the flight attendants to us they were going to reopen the fwd entrance door. This is when 'everything' happened. From the cockpit, everything seemed to be operationally normal and going very smoothly. I, from my seat, could not see or tell what transpired at the fwd entrance door. Still, at this current time, I do not know exactly what caused or led up to this all happening. I wish I did so that I could offer solutions so this will never occur again. Hopefully, through other channels, more information will come available so that we know exactly what happened. Supplemental information from acn 595391: following a flight from ZZZ3 that morning, we swapped planes for our next leg to ZZZ2. We were not rushed and had plenty of time to prepare the aircraft and board the passenger. We were informed that we would be waiting for connecting passenger. The operations agent gave us the loadsheet early and said the count would be 80 people. I finished the opc calculations and finished the FMC data entry. The captain reviewed the data, and we stowed the opc. We waited an additional 15 (approximately) mins for the last passenger to board -- at which time the 'a' flight attendant let us know that all were aboard, and we were ready to go and shut the cockpit door. The captain checked with the pushback crew to ensure all the bags were aboard (and they were), and I double-checked that all the cargo doors were shut/lights out before calling for clearance to push. As I was waiting to get a word to ground (busy frequency), the captain got clearance to start engine #2 and I proceeded with the before start checklist then motored the #2 engine. We got clearance to push and ground wanted us to push, then move forward toward gate X. I relayed that to the captain, and he then relayed that to the push crew. He called brakes released and cleared to push. The tug driver began to push back. After we moved several ft, I heard some commotion in the forward galley and several desperate call 'dings' in a row. The captain informed the tug crew to stop, and they did -- abruptly. I heard some painful screams from the galley and the captain ordered me to open the door, which I did and saw the bloody legs of the operations agent laying in the galley. He ordered me to also call for paramedics, which I did on ground and on company frequency. Operations let me know that help was on the way. The flight attendants and 2 medically qualified passenger applied first aid to the injured operations agent until emt personnel arrived and took her away. Areas where we might have made errors as the flight crew, not noticing the front door light when it came on again. In my haste, I may also not have been strict in running the before start checklist with the proper discipline, as I was trying to talk to ground and start #2 at the same time. I don't know of any other areas where we could have done better to prevent this incident. We rely on the flight attendants when they say that we are ready to go -- that we are! They need to let us know to stop the push if we need to open any doors again. It is important to try to remember that we are working with very heavy and often dangerous equipment -- and not get complacent with the fact that we do this so very often.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: AFTER BEING INFORMED BY THE A FLT ATTENDANT THAT THE CABIN WAS SECURE, FLT CREW OF A B737-700 INITIATED PUSHBACK FROM GATE. HOWEVER, GATE AGENT HAD TAPPED ON DOOR WINDOW, GESTURING THAT THERE WAS ONE MORE PAX. FLT ATTENDANT DISARMED SLIDE SUBSEQUENT TO INFORMING FLT CREW THAT CABIN WAS SECURE, THE DOOR WAS OPENED, AND THE OPS AGENT WAS SEVERELY INJURED BY THE DOOR AND/OR JETWAY AS THE ACFT WAS MOVING.

Narrative: THIS DAY WAS DAY 3 OF A 4-DAY PAIRING. OUR FIRST LEG WAS FROM CITY TO CITY WITH A SCHEDULED 55 MIN GND TIME AND PLANE CHANGE. OUR NEXT FLT WAS ZZZ TO ANOTHER CITY. DURING OUR PREPARATION, WE WERE NOTIFIED THAT WE WOULD HAVE TO HOLD FOR SOME LATE PAX OUT OF ZZZ3. OUR FLT WAS BLOCKED AS AN XX30 FLT WITH A FLT PLANNED TIME OF XX00, SO THIS WAS OF NO SIGNIFICANCE. EVERYTHING WAS PROCEEDING NORMALLY WITH NO RUSHING. AT APPROX XA50 CENTRAL TIME, WE BEGAN OUR SCHEDULED XA35 PUSHBACK. FLT ATTENDANT 'A' TOLD US THE CABIN WAS SECURE AND CLOSED THE COCKPIT DOOR. I ESTABLISHED CONTACT WITH THE TUG DRIVER AS MY FO WORKED ON GETTING THE PUSHBACK CLRNC. WHILE THE FO WAS OBTAINING CLRNC, I COMMUNICATED TO THE TUG DRIVER THE NORMAL RESPONSES OF 'A PUMPS OFF, BRAKES ARE SET.' I RECEIVED A 'SAFETY ZONE CLR,' AND ASKED TO START #2 ENG WHILE THE FO WAS GETTING PUSH CLRNC. WE STARTED TO 'SPIN' #2 AND RECEIVED OUR PUSH CLRNC. I THEN TOLD THE TUG DRIVER 'BRAKES RELEASED CLRED TO PUSH.' EVERYTHING WAS NORMAL UP TO THIS POINT. EVERYTHING THAT FOLLOWS HAPPENED IN A HEARTBEAT. THE AIRPLANE HAD MOVED APPROX 5 OR 6 FT, AND I FELT A JOLT VIBRATE THROUGH THE AIRPLANE AS THE AIRPLANE CAME TO A STOP. AT THE VERY SAME INSTANT, THE FO AND I HEARD THE COCKPIT CALL CHIME 4 OR MORE TIMES. WE ALSO HEARD SCREAMS AND SHOUTING COMING FROM BEHIND THE COCKPIT DOOR. I TOLD THE FO TO OPEN THE COCKPIT DOOR. HE DID AND WE SAW THAT SOMEONE WAS HURT BADLY AND BLEEDING WHILE LAYING IN THE FWD ENTRANCE AREA. I IMMEDIATELY TOLD MY FO TO CALL GND AND GET PARAMEDICS HERE! I LOOKED BACK AND SAW A WHITE TENNIS SHOE AND A BLOODY LEG AND IMMEDIATELY THOUGHT SOMETHING HAD HAPPENED TO OUR 'C' FLT ATTENDANT. AS IT TURNED OUT, IT WAS OUR OPS AGENT WHO WAS INJURED. A COUPLE OF PAX, WHO APPARENTLY WERE OF A MEDICAL BACKGND, IMMEDIATELY ASSISTED WITH FIRST AID AND ASSISTED THE FLT ATTENDANTS. PARAMEDICS SHOWED UP AND THE OPS AGENT WAS TAKEN TO THE HOSPITAL. THIS ALL HAPPENED IN WHAT SEEMED TO BE A SPLIT SECOND. I LATER ASKED THE 'A' FLT ATTENDANT WHAT HAPPENED. HE SAID HE HAD TO DISARM THE SLIDE ON THE DOOR TO LET THE OPS AGENT OPEN THE DOOR. HE SAID SHE HAD TAPPED ON THE DOOR WINDOW GESTURING WITH 1 FINGER AND SAYING '1 MORE, 1 MORE.' THERE WAS NO NOTIFICATION FROM THE FLT ATTENDANTS TO US THEY WERE GOING TO REOPEN THE FWD ENTRANCE DOOR. THIS IS WHEN 'EVERYTHING' HAPPENED. FROM THE COCKPIT, EVERYTHING SEEMED TO BE OPERATIONALLY NORMAL AND GOING VERY SMOOTHLY. I, FROM MY SEAT, COULD NOT SEE OR TELL WHAT TRANSPIRED AT THE FWD ENTRANCE DOOR. STILL, AT THIS CURRENT TIME, I DO NOT KNOW EXACTLY WHAT CAUSED OR LED UP TO THIS ALL HAPPENING. I WISH I DID SO THAT I COULD OFFER SOLUTIONS SO THIS WILL NEVER OCCUR AGAIN. HOPEFULLY, THROUGH OTHER CHANNELS, MORE INFO WILL COME AVAILABLE SO THAT WE KNOW EXACTLY WHAT HAPPENED. SUPPLEMENTAL INFO FROM ACN 595391: FOLLOWING A FLT FROM ZZZ3 THAT MORNING, WE SWAPPED PLANES FOR OUR NEXT LEG TO ZZZ2. WE WERE NOT RUSHED AND HAD PLENTY OF TIME TO PREPARE THE ACFT AND BOARD THE PAX. WE WERE INFORMED THAT WE WOULD BE WAITING FOR CONNECTING PAX. THE OPS AGENT GAVE US THE LOADSHEET EARLY AND SAID THE COUNT WOULD BE 80 PEOPLE. I FINISHED THE OPC CALCULATIONS AND FINISHED THE FMC DATA ENTRY. THE CAPT REVIEWED THE DATA, AND WE STOWED THE OPC. WE WAITED AN ADDITIONAL 15 (APPROX) MINS FOR THE LAST PAX TO BOARD -- AT WHICH TIME THE 'A' FLT ATTENDANT LET US KNOW THAT ALL WERE ABOARD, AND WE WERE READY TO GO AND SHUT THE COCKPIT DOOR. THE CAPT CHKED WITH THE PUSHBACK CREW TO ENSURE ALL THE BAGS WERE ABOARD (AND THEY WERE), AND I DOUBLE-CHKED THAT ALL THE CARGO DOORS WERE SHUT/LIGHTS OUT BEFORE CALLING FOR CLRNC TO PUSH. AS I WAS WAITING TO GET A WORD TO GND (BUSY FREQ), THE CAPT GOT CLRNC TO START ENG #2 AND I PROCEEDED WITH THE BEFORE START CHKLIST THEN MOTORED THE #2 ENG. WE GOT CLRNC TO PUSH AND GND WANTED US TO PUSH, THEN MOVE FORWARD TOWARD GATE X. I RELAYED THAT TO THE CAPT, AND HE THEN RELAYED THAT TO THE PUSH CREW. HE CALLED BRAKES RELEASED AND CLRED TO PUSH. THE TUG DRIVER BEGAN TO PUSH BACK. AFTER WE MOVED SEVERAL FT, I HEARD SOME COMMOTION IN THE FORWARD GALLEY AND SEVERAL DESPERATE CALL 'DINGS' IN A ROW. THE CAPT INFORMED THE TUG CREW TO STOP, AND THEY DID -- ABRUPTLY. I HEARD SOME PAINFUL SCREAMS FROM THE GALLEY AND THE CAPT ORDERED ME TO OPEN THE DOOR, WHICH I DID AND SAW THE BLOODY LEGS OF THE OPS AGENT LAYING IN THE GALLEY. HE ORDERED ME TO ALSO CALL FOR PARAMEDICS, WHICH I DID ON GND AND ON COMPANY FREQ. OPS LET ME KNOW THAT HELP WAS ON THE WAY. THE FLT ATTENDANTS AND 2 MEDICALLY QUALIFIED PAX APPLIED FIRST AID TO THE INJURED OPS AGENT UNTIL EMT PERSONNEL ARRIVED AND TOOK HER AWAY. AREAS WHERE WE MIGHT HAVE MADE ERRORS AS THE FLT CREW, NOT NOTICING THE FRONT DOOR LIGHT WHEN IT CAME ON AGAIN. IN MY HASTE, I MAY ALSO NOT HAVE BEEN STRICT IN RUNNING THE BEFORE START CHKLIST WITH THE PROPER DISCIPLINE, AS I WAS TRYING TO TALK TO GND AND START #2 AT THE SAME TIME. I DON'T KNOW OF ANY OTHER AREAS WHERE WE COULD HAVE DONE BETTER TO PREVENT THIS INCIDENT. WE RELY ON THE FLT ATTENDANTS WHEN THEY SAY THAT WE ARE READY TO GO -- THAT WE ARE! THEY NEED TO LET US KNOW TO STOP THE PUSH IF WE NEED TO OPEN ANY DOORS AGAIN. IT IS IMPORTANT TO TRY TO REMEMBER THAT WE ARE WORKING WITH VERY HEAVY AND OFTEN DANGEROUS EQUIPMENT -- AND NOT GET COMPLACENT WITH THE FACT THAT WE DO THIS SO VERY OFTEN.

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.