Description

On 23 March 2019, an Airbus A320 (HA-LPL) being operated by Wizz Air which was fully loaded for a scheduled passenger flight from Bristol to Katowice was about to be pushed back from its stand in normal night visibility by a 'towbarless' tug when a significant jolt was apparent to the flight crew. The pushback did not commence and after the aircraft nose leg was found to have sustained impact damage, the aircraft was declared unfit to be operated and the occupants were disembarked.

Investigation

An Investigation was carried out by the UK AAIB. It was confirmed that the nose wheel steering bypass pin had been installed and in preparation for the required pushback, the TLD 200MT lift tug had been “aligned with the aircraft nose landing gear main forging”. The tug driver was undertaking his first pushback in the model and type of tug involved and was being directly supervised by a trainer seated next to him in the tug cab. As the tug was being moved forward using its laser guidance system and joystick and had reached the point where its ‘paddles’ close around the nose wheels, the trainer observed the nose landing gear moving and then reported having heard a bang. The driver immediately stopped the procedure and applied the tug brakes and on inspecting the tug paddles found that the one on the aircraft left side “had contacted and damaged the nut on the torque link centre pivot” and that there was a corresponding witness mark on the paddle.