The 1992-built jet was preparing to depart East Midlands Airport for Vitoria, Spain at the time of the incident, which took place on June 16, 2021.
The narrowbody freighter had been pushed back from Stand 99 on the Leicestershire airfield’s West Apron to the tug release point (TRP) without incident. However, when the ground crew – which comprised a tug driver (TD) and a headset operator (HO) – left the aircraft without reconnecting the towbar to the vehicle.
Once at the TRP, the headset operator placed a chock in front of the nosewheel to prevent the aircraft from moving forward while the towbar was disconnected. It is the headset operative’s responsibility to remove the chock and place it in a cage on the side of the tug before demonstrating to the flight deck that they had disconnected the nosewheel steering bypass pin and was clear of the aircraft.
As instructed by the HO, the tug driver reversed slightly to allow for the towbar to be removed from the front of the vehicle. The HO then disconnected the bar from the nose gear leg, removed the bypass pin and unplugged his headset. The tug was then turned around so that the towbar could be attached to the rear of the vehicle, however, before it was secured, t…
