B757-200 struck jetway during parking procedure. Reporter felt the passenger agent operating the gre...

Narrative:

Upon initial visual contact with the gate; I noticed that the green light on the parking system was already illuminated. I verified that we had 2 road guards and that the ramp area was clear; all equipment outside red and white lines. I taxied into the parking space at normal speed. The light went from green to red (neither pilot recalls seeing a yellow light) and immediately to off. When I saw the light go red; I immediately stopped using normal technique and braking. After shutdown checklist; I noticed that the jetway was still well clear of the aircraft; so I called for a jetway driver. A short time later; the first officer got a call over the interphone advising us that the left engine cowling had been damaged by the jetway. I opened window and asked the customer service agent if maintenance had been called; looked aft; and saw that the jetway was still well clear of the aircraft -- I could see the entire left wing. After securing cockpit; I went aft and saw that the jetway had been moved to the 2L door and passengers were deplaning. I noted damage on the left engine anti-ice cowl and notified the chief pilot's office. The parking system uses a 3 stoplight system: green for taxi; yellow to convey approaching stop; red means stop. The problem with the system is that agents using the lights vary their technique considerably. Some give very long yellow lights; some very short; some lead the stop; others don't. Additionally; the pilots cannot see if the agent is paying attention; and if the light malfunctions; there is no time for the agent to stop the airplane by other means. I strongly believe that the lighting system should be abandoned in favor of the agent using hand wands where the pilots can see that he or she is focused on parking the aircraft; with no chance for equipment malfunction of interpretation. Jetways should not be moved until the aircraft is parked; and should also be parked at a height that cannot impact an engine until the aircraft is chocked.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: B757-200 struck jetway during parking procedure. Reporter felt the Passenger Agent operating the green/yellow/red light guidance system was remiss in their duties.

Narrative: Upon initial visual contact with the gate; I noticed that the green light on the parking system was already illuminated. I verified that we had 2 road guards and that the ramp area was clear; all equipment outside red and white lines. I taxied into the parking space at normal speed. The light went from green to red (neither pilot recalls seeing a yellow light) and immediately to off. When I saw the light go red; I immediately stopped using normal technique and braking. After shutdown checklist; I noticed that the jetway was still well clear of the aircraft; so I called for a jetway driver. A short time later; the First Officer got a call over the interphone advising us that the left engine cowling had been damaged by the jetway. I opened window and asked the Customer Service Agent if Maintenance had been called; looked aft; and saw that the jetway was still well clear of the aircraft -- I could see the entire left wing. After securing cockpit; I went aft and saw that the jetway had been moved to the 2L door and passengers were deplaning. I noted damage on the left engine anti-ice cowl and notified the Chief Pilot's Office. The Parking system uses a 3 stoplight system: Green for taxi; yellow to convey approaching stop; red means stop. The problem with the system is that agents using the lights vary their technique considerably. Some give very long yellow lights; some very short; some lead the stop; others don't. Additionally; the pilots cannot see if the agent is paying attention; and if the light malfunctions; there is no time for the Agent to stop the airplane by other means. I strongly believe that the lighting system should be abandoned in favor of the agent using hand wands where the pilots can see that he or she is focused on parking the aircraft; with no chance for equipment malfunction of interpretation. Jetways should not be moved until the aircraft is parked; and should also be parked at a height that cannot impact an engine until the aircraft is chocked.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 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	823041
Time
Date	200902
Local Time Of Day	0601-1200
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.Airport
State Reference	US
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Dawn
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	B757-200
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Taxi
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Function	Captain Pilot Not Flying
Qualification	Flight Crew Flight Engineer Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 180 Flight Crew Total 15000 Flight Crew Type 7000
Person 2
Function	First Officer Pilot Flying
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 175 Flight Crew Total 2300 Flight Crew Type 400
Events
Anomaly	Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy Ground Event / Encounter Other / Unknown

B757-200 struck jetway during parking procedure. Reporter felt the passenger agent operating the green/yellow/red light guidance system was remiss in their duties.