Narrative:

We parked at the gate and noticed that the gate agent was not moving the jet bridge. Upon looking closer we could see that the jet bridge floor was smoking by where the jet bridge would normally meet the aircraft. I went back to the main door and asked the jet bridge driver if that was smoke or just steam from water leaking out of the trash bags that were on top of it previously. The ramp agent standing there said it was smoke and felt hot. At that point I told the first officer to call ramp control and operations to request airfield rescue and fire fighting; and to get us another gate. I told the ramp agent to get a tug and hook up to push us back in the event this was a fire. Shortly after that the airfield rescue and fire fighters arrived and started looking at the affected area; I talked to the chief firefighter there and he advised that they felt it was some sort of electrical issue that could progress into a fire. When I said I would like to remove my plane full of passengers from the gate; he advised that would be a good idea and had his equipment moved from behind the aircraft. I then asked the ramp personnel to put the door rail back in place so we could close and prepare to push back. I asked the flight attendants to make sure everybody was seated and cabin secure. I made another announcement to the passengers advising them what we were going to do. At that point operations started balking at the first officer who was asking for our new gate; saying that they had talked to jet bridge maintenance and they said it wasn't a big deal and they didn't know who called airfield rescue and fire fighting. I advised them that I had called airfield rescue and fire fighting and that we needed to push back and go to another gate because the firemen had advised us that there was a possibility of a fire. I was finally given another gate and we pushed back and taxied over to the other gate and deplaned with no further incident. This event occurred due to some sort of malfunction with the jet bridge. The trash bags piled on the end of the bridge may have been a contributing factor. Some questions I have is why is operations questioning our request for a push back and new gate when the first officer had clearly told them that there was a potential fire at or current gate? I didn't even need a gate immediately I just wanted the push back to get my plane load of people away from a potentially hazardous situation. Even if there wasn't any hazard to the passengers the jet bridge was probably going to be out of order and we would have had to been relocated to another gate anyways. Other than that; the situation was handled very well by the ramp/flight attendants/first officer and the airfield rescue and fire fighters.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A First Officer reported that as their aircraft pulled into the gate the crew noticed smoke coming from the jet bridge floor. Emergency Personnel were called and after some hesitancy by operations the aircraft was moved to another gate.

Narrative: We parked at the gate and noticed that the gate agent was not moving the jet bridge. Upon looking closer we could see that the jet bridge floor was smoking by where the jet bridge would normally meet the aircraft. I went back to the main door and asked the jet bridge driver if that was smoke or just steam from water leaking out of the trash bags that were on top of it previously. The Ramp Agent standing there said it was smoke and felt hot. At that point I told the First Officer to call Ramp Control and Operations to request Airfield Rescue and Fire Fighting; and to get us another gate. I told the Ramp Agent to get a tug and hook up to push us back in the event this was a fire. Shortly after that the Airfield Rescue and Fire Fighters arrived and started looking at the affected area; I talked to the Chief Firefighter there and he advised that they felt it was some sort of electrical issue that could progress into a fire. When I said I would like to remove my plane full of passengers from the gate; he advised that would be a good idea and had his equipment moved from behind the aircraft. I then asked the Ramp Personnel to put the door rail back in place so we could close and prepare to push back. I asked the Flight Attendants to make sure everybody was seated and cabin secure. I made another announcement to the passengers advising them what we were going to do. At that point Operations started balking at the First Officer who was asking for our new gate; saying that they had talked to jet bridge Maintenance and they said it wasn't a big deal and they didn't know who called Airfield Rescue and Fire Fighting. I advised them that I had called Airfield Rescue and Fire Fighting and that we needed to push back and go to another gate because the Firemen had advised us that there was a possibility of a fire. I was finally given another gate and we pushed back and taxied over to the other gate and deplaned with no further incident. This event occurred due to some sort of malfunction with the jet bridge. The trash bags piled on the end of the bridge may have been a contributing factor. Some questions I have is why is Operations questioning our request for a push back and new gate when the First Officer had clearly told them that there was a potential fire at or current gate? I didn't even need a gate immediately I just wanted the push back to get my plane load of people away from a potentially hazardous situation. Even if there wasn't any hazard to the passengers the jet bridge was probably going to be out of order and we would have had to been relocated to another gate anyways. Other than that; the situation was handled very well by the Ramp/Flight Attendants/First Officer and the Airfield Rescue and Fire Fighters.

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.