Dash 8 Series Undifferentiated or Other Model
Aircraft Equipment Problem Less Severe; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy; Flight Deck / Cabin / Aircraft Event Illness / Injury
Flight Crew Became Reoriented; General Physical Injury / Incapacitation
Aircraft; Human Factors
Flight Attendant was knocked off of her feet after the engine was brought up out of feather and was injured when the aircraft rolled forward and was stopped using the emergency brake. The Before Start Checklist had been run and the parking brake and pressure was at least 2;600 PSI; which matched closely to what I had seen on my preflight walk around. The engine starts had happened without incident and I had just finished verifying my flow action items and was waiting for the Captain to start up the Number 1 Engine. After I verified my flow I turned the packs on and was the waiting for the Number 1 Engine to start. Once the Number 1 Engine was started I was then waiting for the Captain to bring the condition levers out of feather to run the auto feather power uptrim tests and PTU manual test. The Captain brought the condition levers up and I reached down to start my tests then felt the aircraft move forward. The flaps had been set to 5 degrees and when the aircraft moved forward it looked like the Captain tried to stop the aircraft with the normal breaks; but had to use the emergency brake. The aircraft came to a stop and the Captain immediately started to shut the airplane down and check on the Flight Attendant. In the whole situation I can't remember ever seeing when the parking brake had disengaged.The Captain called the Flight Attendant and found that she had been injured. I am not sure why the event happened the parking brake had been set and I was sure that when the checklist was run that it had been set properly when I had looked over. The aircraft was shut down and secured and the Captain called for medical assistance from the ground crew First Officer made sure that the aircraft was shut down and secured. Make sure that you have normal braking before removing the chocks to make sure we have two ways of stopping the aircraft.
DHC8 First Officer reports his aircraft rolling forward as the Captain brings the condition levers out of feather after engine start. Normal braking is attempted to no avail and the emergency brake is used; stopping the aircraft abruptly and injuring the Flight Attendant.