A B737-700 captain shut down the right engine after landing to save fuel. Upon entering the ramp are...

Narrative:

While on taxi towards the gate area at our destinationi shut down the #2 engine after a cool down period. While entering the ramp area; I had my hand over the #1 start lever. The #1 engine was at idle. During this time we were looking outside to ensure the ramp safety zone was clear. It was dark out. While entering safety zone; and in anticipation of the marshaler's hand signals; I accidentally hooked my finger on the remaining engine start lever. This happened while my hand was near the engine start levers. I felt the lever move slightly; I pushed it up to its normal idle position; but the aircraft engine began to roll back and shut down. I stopped the aircraft about 15 feet short of the parking spot. The aircraft was on APU power so while stopped; we restarted the engine. Then we proceeded to parking and de-planed normally. I think it is somewhat common for the captain to have his or her hand on or near the start lever while on the ramp; but this is a bad procedure; especially if only one engine is running. Perhaps the first officer should shut down the right engine and hydraulic pressure after shutdown while the captain stays heads up. In any case; I will be extra cautious in the future.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A B737-700 Captain shut down the right engine after landing to save fuel. Upon entering the ramp area he shut down the left engine to save even more. Used the APU to restart the last engine and complete the taxi to the gate.

Narrative: While on taxi towards the gate area at our destinationI shut down the #2 engine after a cool down period. While entering the ramp area; I had my hand over the #1 start lever. The #1 engine was at idle. During this time we were looking outside to ensure the ramp safety zone was clear. It was dark out. While entering safety zone; and in anticipation of the Marshaler's hand signals; I accidentally hooked my finger on the remaining engine start lever. This happened while my hand was near the engine start levers. I felt the lever move slightly; I pushed it up to its normal idle position; but the aircraft engine began to roll back and shut down. I stopped the aircraft about 15 feet short of the parking spot. The aircraft was on APU power so while stopped; we restarted the engine. Then we proceeded to parking and de-planed normally. I think it is somewhat common for the Captain to have his or her hand on or near the start lever while on the ramp; but this is a bad procedure; especially if only one engine is running. Perhaps the First Officer should shut down the right engine and hydraulic pressure after shutdown while the Captain stays heads up. In any case; I will be extra cautious in the future.

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	864488
Time
Date	200912
Local Time Of Day	0001-0600
Place
Locale Reference	PBI.Airport
State Reference	FL
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Night
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	B737-700
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Taxi
Flight Plan	IFR
Component
Aircraft Component	Powerplant Fuel Control Unit
Person 1
Function	Captain
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 70 Flight Crew Type 7000
Events
Anomaly	Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy

A B737-700 captain shut down the right engine after landing to save fuel. Upon entering the ramp area he shut down the left engine to save even more. Used the APU to restart the last engine and complete the taxi to the gate.