EMB ERJ 145 ER/LR
Situational Awareness
Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy; Ground Event / Encounter Other / Unknown
General None Reported / Taken
Company Policy; Procedure; Human Factors
On this date towing an ERJ145; they had a complete aircraft breakaway. The aircraft jostled in the cradle of the tug and eventually popped out of the cradle. The aircraft had broken free and had no break rider in the cockpit. The aircraft rolled to a stop because the tug was at a standstill and was just starting to pull forward and the tire of the aircraft was jerked free from the cradle and turned sideways. If there was any more speed or the aircraft was on a hill it would have rolled farther than it did. I am reporting this after it was finally brought to my attention almost 2 weeks later. This is the second time that I know of that this has happened that a tug has lost an aircraft during a tow with a towbarless tractor and had no break rider in the cockpit. I also know of at least 20 other times where a plane has broken free of the cradle but remained attached to the tug. Almost every time it causes damage to the aircraft nose gear. In talking to my fellow employees this seems to happen more often than I even knew about. This is a major safety concern because an aircraft that breaks free of the cradle with no one in the cockpit could go anywhere and has no one to stop it. Luckily I have not heard of a breakaway causing major damage but that is just luck. With the expansion of the operations to all our hubs and also our focus cities I believe we need to reevaluate our aircraft towing procedures so that no one is injured or we do not cause a major aircraft accident anytime in the future.
Ramp Supervisor reported an aircraft being towed with a towbarless tug came out of its cradle and went out of control. The aircraft came to a stop before making contact with any objects.