Despite the presence of three ground crewmen while the flight crew of a B-737NG were self parking at...

Narrative:

While taxiing in on gate centerline I noticed three ground personnel standing with a ground power unit at the gate. I taxied into the gate using the self parking system. I noticed the ground power unit was positioned close to where the aircraft would be parked. I assumed the ground personnel had placed the ground power unit in the correct position and would signal me to stop if I had any problems. Normally; the jet bridges have power cords and a ground power unit is not required. I taxied in very slowly while using the auto self park system and also looking out the window for ground personnel to warn me of any problems. Just prior to the 'stop' light on the self parking system; we heard a rubbing noise in the nose of the aircraft. After shutting down the aircraft my first officer went outside to learn we had barely bumped into the ground power unit.we made a 2 1/2 inch scratch in the nose of the aircraft. The ground personnel did not say anything to us until we asked them what happened as they were unloading baggage. One of the ground personnel said he wanted to warn me but didn't; because he said; 'I was afraid how you would react.' at no time during taxi in did any of the three ground personnel indicate we needed to stop or that there was any problem. Even though the ground power cart was close to the aircraft I felt it was safe to proceed because I had three ground personnel watching me.we called maintenance. They inspected the scratch and released the aircraft to service. The aircraft departed on its next scheduled flight.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Despite the presence of three Ground Crewmen while the flight crew of a B-737NG were self parking at the gate; the aircraft was allowed to run into a ground power unit prepositioned for use. Slight damage resulted.

Narrative: While taxiing in on gate centerline I noticed three Ground personnel standing with a ground power unit at the gate. I taxied into the gate using the self parking system. I noticed the ground power unit was positioned close to where the aircraft would be parked. I assumed the Ground personnel had placed the ground power unit in the correct position and would signal me to stop if I had any problems. Normally; the jet bridges have power cords and a ground power unit is not required. I taxied in very slowly while using the auto self park system and also looking out the window for Ground personnel to warn me of any problems. Just prior to the 'stop' light on the self parking system; we heard a rubbing noise in the nose of the aircraft. After shutting down the aircraft my First Officer went outside to learn we had barely bumped into the ground power unit.We made a 2 1/2 inch scratch in the nose of the aircraft. The Ground personnel did not say anything to us until we asked them what happened as they were unloading baggage. One of the Ground personnel said he wanted to warn me but didn't; because he said; 'I was afraid how you would react.' At no time during taxi in did any of the three Ground personnel indicate we needed to stop or that there was any problem. Even though the ground power cart was close to the aircraft I felt it was safe to proceed because I had three ground personnel watching me.We called Maintenance. They inspected the scratch and released the aircraft to service. The aircraft departed on its next scheduled flight.

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	982054
Time
Date	201111
Local Time Of Day	0001-0600
Place
Locale Reference	MIA.Airport
State Reference	FL
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	B737 Next Generation Undifferentiated
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)
Person 2
Function	First Officer Pilot Not Flying
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Events
Anomaly	Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy Ground Event / Encounter Object

Despite the presence of three ground crewmen while the flight crew of a B-737NG were self parking at the gate; the aircraft was allowed to run into a ground power unit prepositioned for use. Slight damage resulted.