Narrative:

During my walk around inspection; I had just rounded the right wingtip; and cleared the ground area between myself and the aircraft fuselage. There were no fueling hoses; open man holes; static lines; or any other obstructions in my way. In fact; the only equipment; or personnel; on that entire side of the aircraft were the cargo loaders at each cargo pit; and some 4-5 ground crew at the rear cargo pit. I had just visually inspected the right aileron; and outboard flap section(s); when I was struck by a luggage tug! The impact was forceful enough to throw me approximately 10 feet. The impact threw me to the ground and knocked of my hat and glasses (breaking them). I looked back at the driver and the single cart of luggage he was towing and wondered why he hit me. I then did my my best to assess my injuries. The impact had forced my glasses into my eye socket. I was cut; and bleeding from that area and I was concerned about my vision. Ground personnel helped me find the pieces of my glasses; and I asked a couple of them 'how bad am I hurt'? I then sat inside a luggage cart; trying to put my glasses back together; waiting for EMS to arrive. After EMS attention I returned to the aircraft; and competed the trip as scheduled. During the next day or so; I realized that I had sustained injury to my left eye socket; left shoulder; left shin; right palm; and right hip. As it turns out; this driver was towing a single cart of bags; at a high rate of speed; near the aircraft; and could not have been paying attention to the direction he was driving. I cannot fathom how on a perfectly clear day; in midday sun light; with zero obstructions; this individual could miss seeing a 6'2' pilot in full uniform; walking around the aircraft! In addition; the tug was one of the new electric vehicles. On this walk around; I was a little early; and the APU was off. I wasn't wearing my usual ear plugs; and it was relatively quiet around the aircraft; yet I didn't hear a thing until the vehicle hit me! The driver of this electric vehicle should not only have been paying attention to where he was driving but also should have been aware that no one can hear him coming! Manufacturers in japan are looking at this very problem with the proliferation of electric vehicles there. People are being hit every day there in part because the pedestrians cannot hear the electric cars coming at them. The manufacturers are looking into artificial noise producers on these vehicles to provide 'warning' of the vehicles approach. Perhaps someone with influence can encourage electric tug manufacturers to look into the same technology.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: While performing his walk around inspection; a B767-200 First Officer was struck and injured by an electric powered ground support vehicle pulling a single baggage cart on a clear; sunny day. The reporter stated he never heard the approaching electric vehicle despite the low ambient noise level.

Narrative: During my walk around inspection; I had just rounded the right wingtip; and cleared the ground area between myself and the aircraft fuselage. There were no fueling hoses; open man holes; static lines; or any other obstructions in my way. In fact; the only equipment; or personnel; on that entire side of the aircraft were the cargo loaders at each cargo pit; and some 4-5 Ground Crew at the rear cargo pit. I had just visually inspected the right aileron; and outboard flap section(s); when I was struck by a luggage tug! The impact was forceful enough to throw me approximately 10 feet. The impact threw me to the ground and knocked of my hat and glasses (breaking them). I looked back at the driver and the single cart of luggage he was towing and wondered why he hit me. I then did my my best to assess my injuries. The impact had forced my glasses into my eye socket. I was cut; and bleeding from that area and I was concerned about my vision. Ground personnel helped me find the pieces of my glasses; and I asked a couple of them 'how bad am I hurt'? I then sat inside a luggage cart; trying to put my glasses back together; waiting for EMS to arrive. After EMS attention I returned to the aircraft; and competed the trip as scheduled. During the next day or so; I realized that I had sustained injury to my left eye socket; left shoulder; left shin; right palm; and right hip. As it turns out; this driver was towing a single cart of bags; at a high rate of speed; near the aircraft; and could not have been paying attention to the direction he was driving. I cannot fathom how on a perfectly clear day; in midday sun light; with zero obstructions; this individual could miss seeing a 6'2' pilot in full uniform; walking around the aircraft! In addition; the tug was one of the new electric vehicles. On this walk around; I was a little early; and the APU was off. I wasn't wearing my usual ear plugs; and it was relatively quiet around the aircraft; yet I didn't hear a thing until the vehicle hit me! The driver of this electric vehicle should not only have been paying attention to where he was driving but also should have been aware that no one can hear him coming! Manufacturers in Japan are looking at this very problem with the proliferation of electric vehicles there. People are being hit every day there in part because the pedestrians cannot hear the electric cars coming at them. The manufacturers are looking into artificial noise producers on these vehicles to provide 'warning' of the vehicles approach. Perhaps someone with influence can encourage electric tug manufacturers to look into the same technology.

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.