Commercial Fixed Wing
Troubleshooting; Confusion
Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy; Ground Event / Encounter Other / Unknown
General None Reported / Taken
Procedure; Manuals
It has been a concern of mine that we may not be towing aircraft in the safest possible way in ZZZ. Having a tow team background; I understand the importance of safety being the top priority during aircraft repositioning. It is my understanding that every regional carrier has developed a towing checklist for each aircraft type in their fleet; and has certain rules for towing their aircraft (towing dead or powered). In ZZZ; it seems that our only procedure is to tow all regional aircraft without power; which is fine as long as the brake pressure is checked correctly and it is not going against the regional companies regulations. A couple examples that I am concerned about are the CRJ200/700 aircraft does not store brake pressure; so the only pressure you have is what is in the brake lines. On a normal tow; you may have one or two stops before the pressure is depleted. If the aircraft has been sitting for a while; you may not have any pressure at all to stop the aircraft in case of emergency. I did manage to find an E170/175 checklist; and it is very useful for checking brake pressure; however; for towing aircraft without power; the very first line (in bright red letters) states aircraft to be moved 300 yards; or less. My concern with this is that many of our tows are well over 300 yards; and we are the only airline in ZZZ towing any aircraft without power. On the tow team; we did not enter any flight deck without a proper checklist; for our safety and the safety of the aircraft. My main objective is to get every employee that tows aircraft a copy of each checklist; along with each regional carriers' regulations for towing that aircraft.
Air carrier ground employee reported concern that the team is towing aircraft using incorrect procedures.