Regional Jet 900 (CRJ900)
Maintenance Airframe; Maintenance Powerplant
Communication Breakdown; Distraction; Situational Awareness
Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Maintenance; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy; Ground Event / Encounter Vehicle
Aircraft Aircraft Damaged; General Maintenance Action
Equipment / Tooling; Human Factors; Procedure
Before [dawn]; we had just finished performing a pressure refueling to Leak Check the Pressure Refuel/Defuel Manifold; and the aircraft needed to have an Engine Vibration Check due to the Fan Blade and Pin Lube Task that had just been completed. After seeing the Fueler finish retracting the hoses into his truck and get into the cab; I; [Aircraft Maintenance Technician X] started my walk around by starting at the Right wing tip; then moving clockwise around the plane until I reached the Main cabin door where I entered the aircraft. Aircraft Inspector X was already aboard the aircraft and was starting the APU and Technician Y had yet to board. As the APU was starting; Inspector X moved out of the way and I sat down in the Left seat and began to perform the rest of the Pre-Engine Start tasks. At some point; Technician Y boarded and Inspector X asked him who was going to ride Right seat; implying he should. Technician Y came up and sat down in the Right seat; with Inspector X taking the Jumpseat; and I began to start the Left engine; calling out 'Starting One'. After Technician Y got settled in his chair; the Left engine was spooled up; and I called out 'Starting 2'; then proceeded to start the Right engine. When the Right engine was stable at idle; I said something to the effect of lets go; then released the parking brake and turned on the nose light and the taxi/recognition lights. I scanned ahead to plan how I would taxi out as I released the foot pedals and allowed the airplane to begin rolling. As the plane began to roll; I began applying the brakes again; to keep the plane at a slow walking pace. After rolling about 15 feet or so; the airplane abruptly stopped and jerked to the right a little. I immediately applied the parking brake and we briefly suggested why the plane felt like it hit something; then Inspector X said to shut down the engines as I was about to ask aloud if I should do that. I performed a normal engine shutdown; and shut everything off except the APU. I stayed in the Flight deck for a minute or so; then I joined the others outside where I saw the wing of the plane up against the fuel truck. I walked up to where people were; and the Fueler said something about calling 911; so I went back into the plane and called Ground and said where we were and that we had had a collision with a fuel truck. Ground Control said that because it was a non-movement area; she would call Operations and let them know. I went out and relayed this info to the leads and supervisor who were now out and assessing the damage. I asked the Lead if we still needed the APU running; he said no; so I went back in and shut it all down. We knew an event had occurred because the aircraft jerked to a stop; when we expected it would keep rolling. [Contributors]:1. I didn't go all the way around on my walk around to see the fuel truck still sitting there.2. I was slightly nervous because the Inspector was riding Jumpseat.3. I did not ask Technician Y to check his side to see if we were clear on the right.4. I assumed; along with Technician Y and Inspector X that the fuel truck had left shortly after he finished fueling the aircraft.5. There are several lights outside the hangar that do not illuminate.6. The fuel truck did not have an operational beacon; or the beacon was not turned on. 7. The Fueler did not seem to react to the Beacon light on the aircraft; the engines being started; or the taxi lights illuminated. 8. I was thinking ahead to how I would navigate the airplane past the engines that [our] Mainline [Carrier] has sitting in front of their hangar; and the lifts and equipment parked way in front of the hangar next to ours; which restrict the passageway into the Ramp space in front of our hangar.The parking brake was set. The engines were shut down normally; Ground Control was notified an incident had occurred. The Leads and Supervisors were notified. [Recommendations]: Better crew resource management; inchecking the 'blind spots' while taxiing. Better situational awareness.
An Aircraft Maintenance Technician reported how a chain of events contributed to the right wing of their CRJ-900 striking a fuel truck during a taxi maneuver. Technician also noted that inadequate CRM; assumptions; complacency; lack of assertiveness; and poor communication were additional contributors.