Flight Crew Last 90 Days 370
Ground Event / Encounter Other / Unknown
Aircraft Aircraft Damaged; Flight Crew Became Reoriented; General Maintenance Action
Equipment / Tooling; Human Factors
Our original aircraft for this leg was a -300 with an inop APU. Ground Ops hooked up a ground air cart to start the #1 engine. After clearance from the ground crew and verification of airflow; we began the start sequence for the #1 engine. At about 35% N2; we noticed the air cart making a lot more noise than usual and the N2 rotation had hung at 35%. We aborted the engine start. The Captain informed the ground personnel that we had aborted the engine start. Ground Ops then informed the Captain via the headset that the airstart hose had disconnected from the aircraft. Ground Ops then shut down the start cart. After making sure that everyone on the ground was okay; we were informed that the end of the hose had struck the #2 engine. I immediately called for Maintenance and the Captain went down on the ramp to assess the situation. The hose damaged the cowling on the inboard side of the #2 engine at eye level. We swapped to another aircraft. The main reason for writing this report is to ensure that the ground crew is safe in the event that this occurs again. I am just thankful that no one was hurt. Make sure that everyone on the ground is well clear of the hose during ground air starts. Thankfully everyone was clear during this event. Hopefully ground personnel are aware of what that hose can do if it disconnects during a ground air start.
B737 First Officer reports the air hose; from a ground air start cart; separating from the aircraft during engine start and striking the number two engine. The engine cowl is dented and the aircraft is taken out of service.