Old school New England 92 - Scanorama

SAS MOMENTS
The pushback
MOST PLANES HAVE THE ABILITY to reverse by themselves, but at a busy
airport such as Stockholm-Arlanda it’s not allowed because it’s hard
for the pilot-in-command (PIC) to pull away from the gate since he
can’t see what’s behind him. Instead, SAS’s pushback trucks push, or
tow, the airplane to a spot from where it can taxi to the runway.
There are three people involved in the pushback – a pushback driver,
a start-up leader and the captain. The start-up leader functions as
the driver’s eyes and ears, and plugs his headset into the plane to talk
to the PIC. He also does a departure check to make sure there’s no
damage to the plane. Before the pushback truck connects to the aircraft
a bypass pin is inserted into the nose gear to disable the steering
mechanism. When the pushback truck is connected, the chocks
are removed and the gate is pulled back. The pushback driver lifts the
nose wheel so that the plane is easier to maneuver. Six minutes before
departure the captain turns on the auxiliary power unit, primarily used
to power the main engines, and the ground power is disconnected.
The plane is then pushed to where it can start taxiing.
Once pushback is complete and the engines are running the startup
leader gets the OK from the PIC to disconnect the pushback equipment.
When the airplane is free of all ground equipment the start-up
leader gives the PIC an all-clear signal and the plane can taxi to the
runway for takeoff . LISA ROSMAN
16 DECEMBER 2011/JANUARY 2012 SCANORAMA