B767-300 and 300 ER
Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Situational Awareness
Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy
General None Reported / Taken
Human Factors
As the aircraft was about to stop at the gate; a siren warning sounded in the cockpit. It turned out to be that the ground crew was attempting to open the forward cargo door as the aircraft was nearing a stop with both engines running. Adding to this problem; ground personnel at [this station] routinely position themselves inside the protected aircraft movement area and very near the aircraft's intended movement; during laser guided gate arrivals. Should the aircraft inadvertently deviate from the taxi line due to laser guidance malfunction or other error; this unnecessary ground personnel waiting area could prove dangerous if not fatal. The ground personnel location issue is an arrival occurrence in the laser guidance era that seems to be getting worse. The cargo door opening event has happened twice in all my years flying; both times within the last two months; so this too is obviously a new problem on the rise with grave consequences. Also; to make matters worse; apparently when the ground crew attempted to open the forward cargo door; it must have unlocked and not opened (that door should not have power until the aircraft is powered by the APU or ground power); causing ground personnel to believe there was a problem with the aircraft. Ground personnel violated customs rules and entered the aircraft and tried to manipulate power sources to attain power for the forward cargo door. So in addition to considerable safety issues at stake; this occurrence also translated to other potential problems. The aircraft protected movement area currently precludes equipment from being in that area. It should also preclude personnel from being in that area; sans some operational necessity that has been previously coordinated with the captain where hand signal or radio communications is established and maintained. Nothing and nobody should be in that aircraft movement protected area during aircraft arrivals. If not for the obvious safety concerns; the more clutter in and around the aircraft protected movement area could lead to erroneous aircraft laser guidance to the gate and stopping point. As for the cargo door being opened; that should already be well known to all ground personnel. For whatever reason; they are just doing it.
B767-300 Captain reports ground personnel attempting to open the forward cargo door during gate arrival; with both engines still running.