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Airbus flight crew preparing for taxi had to abruptly stop when a tug approached the front of their aircraft to inquire about an on board passenger.
| Attributes | |
| ACN | 906734 |
| Time | |
| Date | 201008 |
| Local Time Of Day | 0601-1200 |
| Place | |
| Locale Reference | SFO.Airport |
| State Reference | CA |
| Environment | |
| Flight Conditions | VMC |
| Aircraft 1 | |
| Make Model Name | A318 |
| Operating Under FAR Part | Part 121 |
| Flight Phase | Taxi |
| Flight Plan | IFR |
| Person 1 | |
| Function | Captain Pilot Flying |
| Qualification | Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP) |
| Experience | Flight Crew Last 90 Days 210 Flight Crew Type 5600 |
| Person 2 | |
| Function | First Officer Pilot Not Flying |
| Experience | Flight Crew Last 90 Days 261 |
| Events | |
| Anomaly | Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy Ground Event / Encounter Vehicle |
Narrative:
After push back onto active taxiway a; and a minute or so after disconnect; we received taxi clearance and I was pushing engine power up for taxi (taxi light on) when a station tug pulled from the right in front of aircraft blocking our taxi. My alert first officer called my attention to the tug as it was approaching and I pulled engine power back to idle; engaged the parking brake; and turned off the taxi light. My first officer canceled taxi clearance. The supervisor on the tug then connected to the aircraft ground comm cord to ask if a particular passenger was on board. If our attention had been distracted with aircraft checklist duties; I could very easily have collided with the tug. The passenger information could have easily been passed by ACARS or radio after departure; rather than interfering with an aircraft about to taxi.
Original NASA ASRS Text
Title: Airbus flight crew preparing for taxi had to abruptly stop when a tug approached the front of their aircraft to inquire about an on board passenger.
Narrative: After push back onto active Taxiway A; and a minute or so after disconnect; we received taxi clearance and I was pushing engine power up for taxi (taxi light on) when a station tug pulled from the right in front of aircraft blocking our taxi. My alert First Officer called my attention to the tug as it was approaching and I pulled engine power back to idle; engaged the parking brake; and turned off the taxi light. My F/O canceled taxi clearance. The Supervisor on the tug then connected to the aircraft ground comm cord to ask if a particular passenger was on board. If our attention had been distracted with aircraft checklist duties; I could very easily have collided with the tug. The passenger information could have easily been passed by ACARS or radio after departure; rather than interfering with an aircraft about to taxi.
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.