A B737 captain reported that a ground crew member approached the aircraft after pushback without con...

Narrative:

We had just pushed back without headsets and delayed engine start until disconnect was confirmed by both cockpit crew members. We had started the right engine and had begun the start of the left engine. The ramp was very dark. I noticed the shadow of someone approaching the airplane at a run with his hands over his head in the hold position. He ran to the forward cargo [door] without any communication or response from the crew and opened the forward cargo door. It appeared as though he had left a personal item and was retrieving it. He opened and closed the forward cargo door with the right engine running and the left engine in the starting process. Not only was this a huge safety risk for himself but risk of damage to the engine from FOD. Also; if he had done this one minute later I could have taxied over him. This also changed our out time as a door was opened after dispatch. I can only describe the individual as a black male; medium height and skinny build. I reported this to the chief pilots office.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A B737 Captain reported that a ground crew member approached the aircraft after pushback without contacting them and opened the forward cargo door with the right engine running.

Narrative: We had just pushed back without headsets and delayed engine start until disconnect was confirmed by both cockpit crew members. We had started the right engine and had begun the start of the left engine. The ramp was very dark. I noticed the shadow of someone approaching the airplane at a run with his hands over his head in the hold position. He ran to the forward cargo [door] without any communication or response from the crew and opened the forward cargo door. It appeared as though he had left a personal item and was retrieving it. He opened and closed the forward cargo door with the right engine running and the left engine in the starting process. Not only was this a huge safety risk for himself but risk of damage to the engine from FOD. Also; if he had done this one minute later I could have taxied over him. This also changed our out time as a door was opened after dispatch. I can only describe the individual as a black male; medium height and skinny build. I reported this to the chief pilots office.

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	968406
Time
Date	201109
Local Time Of Day	1801-2400
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.Airport
State Reference	US
Environment
Light	Night
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	B737-400
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Parked
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Function	Pilot Flying Captain
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Events
Anomaly	Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy Ground Event / Encounter Other / Unknown

A B737 captain reported that a ground crew member approached the aircraft after pushback without contacting them and opened the forward cargo door with the right engine running.