A319
Flight Crew Total 335
Confusion; Communication Breakdown; Distraction; Situational Awareness
Conflict Ground Conflict; Less Severe; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy
Flight Crew Became Reoriented; Flight Crew Took Evasive Action
Human Factors; Procedure; Company Policy
First of all; I want to note that the First Officer and I later commented that the cadence of guide man gave us the impression that he was experienced and professional when we were approaching the gate. As I lined up on lead in line; right engine was secured; and all equipment and jet bridge were behind red lines. Approaching normal stop point; jet bridge still in peripheral view of my left eye; I noticed bridge moving back quickly. At the same time the momentum of aircraft slowed and I stopped the aircraft as the guide man started pointing in different directions. At that point I decided to set brakes and secure left engine. I immediately left cockpit to find the agent. It was at that time that I realized that the Agent was screaming at the guide man to stop as she was quickly repositioning the bridge. After going to the ramp I then saw that I was marshaled way past the A319 stop bar. The Agent's awareness and actions in all likelihood saved the aircraft from impacting the jet bridge the left nacelle and impacting the GPU on the right nacelle. I certainly hope that here decisive actions will be recognized. I suggest more emphasis on stop bar training for A319!
I do not know at this time if the Marshaller mis-ID'd the aircraft as a B737 or an A321; or some other factor caused the confusion. However; there have several incidents now of A319's being marshaled to the wrong stop point. We need to ensure training includes methods to properly identify the correct aircraft type. This will likely become more important as we combine fleets to include a variety of A319/320/321 aircraft. According to the gate agent; they are trained not to move the jet bridge when the aircraft is moving. However; they are part of 'the team.' They need to be ready to get the Marshaller's attention and move the jet bridge immediately; if necessary; to avoid a conflict. The Gate agent did exactly the right thing and likely prevented a serious ground collision.
An A319 was marshaled into a gate but not stopped at the correct line; so as the engine nacelle approached the jetway; an Agent moved it back and avoided a collision. This aircraft model is new to the company.