The Boeing 787 Dreamliner is the second largest aircraft in American Airline’s fleet. In this video the crew chief performs a complex pushback that requires a full “360” of the large aircraft.
Awesome push by our ramp crew! This was from gate A30 and the driver did an S turn! Which he first goes tail south and then turns it back tail north on the line instructed!
No the music is a nice touch with this video and our widebody pushback tractor. The whole time you turn the steering wheel it makes a screeching sound...so annoying for a video
I used to push 172s around at a small airport flight school. Seeing the nose gear being turned almost 90 degrees makes my heart stop LOL. I love these videos. Thank you for the work you put in to put them on RU-vid for us to enjoy
New subscriber here. I worked on a Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner lastnight here in Winnipeg. Lovely bird. Greetings from fellow ramp agent or as we Air Canada employee say Station Attendant. Great video and push back as well.
What an honor for you! To push back this beauty into the alleyway is so exciting! American has a gorgeous paint job these days and this plane is stunning. Safe journey to all AA crew from the ramp to the flight deck. Always in my prayers.
She doesn't mention the vertical red line that is on the nose gear covers that separate the 78-9 from the words Etops. If she moves the towbar past that red line she will probably snap a shear pin and that would end the pushback until a new towbar or pin arrives.
@ladyandtheramp if I were younger (65 now) and had it all to do over again, I would have gotten my pilots license with my dad paying for my training. I chose not to go to college, and took a carpentry job out of high school. Oh well.
The person that created this wanted music. This person needed music. you don’t need music. Mute it. Why ask other people to conform to what you want? Let everyone make their own decisions for themselves……. I might not have added the music personally, but I’m not the one creating this. I’m not the one taking the tie to do this to share with other people. Other people who should be grateful and appreciative, in my humble opinion. If you don’t believe in music, don’t add music. You don’t believe in anything, don’t force other people to have to think like you do.
I would loved to have heard that pushback instruction, did it include hold short of runway __ and for the flight crew to report when ready for departure after disconnection from the tug. No wonder the wing walkers could not go further, and you were moving it.
They must be heading south on Sierra over the bridge but why would they make you push tail south then turn tail north? Seems like it would be easier to push tail east onto Charlie.
Yes! You are correct they needed him tail north (so nose pointed south) on Sierra to go over the bridge. I think they didn’t want the plane to go over the Charlie taxiway to the north too much. So they had to pull it out a ways from the gates to the East and give them enough room to put the tail north on Sierra.
@@RioJudy She doesn't get to decide where to put the plane. ATC, ground control, or ramp control, will give the pilot clearance to push and in what direction depending on which runway they want the plane to use. Her job is to put the plane where they want it. I am very familiar with the PHX airport (I also livestream planespotting here on my channel) so my point was simply that it seemed to me that they could push tail east from the end of that pier, but maybe they didn't want to block other traffic from moving. This appears to be gate A26 - I've never seen a 787 at that gate before!
not sure why they pushed the plane in the opposite direction then swug it around. Could have push the tail in that direction 1st and saved all that driving .
In this case, there is an active taxiway to the north and to the west. So the tower cleared the taxiway to the west for then to set the plane on. Typically we never disconnect on the taxiway…but this being a wide body, they had to. He had to pull it away from the gates so as to not hit the other aircraft and then not go any farther north because of that taxiway. It was actuality a really cool push to ride along on 😁
There are restrictions on where the wing walkers can go. They are not allowed to go beyond the zippered line into the active taxiway. So they are following along at the zipper line.
So I start OJT training next week an I’m honestly kinda scared. I was told to never get close to a running engine but during pushback they start the engines and Ramp Agents have to disconnect the coms while the engines are running? Can you explain more please so I can make it to work on Monday and not quit. That’s honestly the only thing that makes me not want to work at the airport
How exciting! The ingestion zone is 15 feet in front of the engine. And usually they start the number 1 engine which is on opposite side of the wing Walker that disconnects the tue bar and communication line. Just keep your head in a swivel and follow protocol. Get in good habits :) . It is a great job!
next time they will power back to drown out the music, lol. we like your channel but as you know being airside, there is no music permitted in vehicles so it doesn’t fit with the content.
Pushed from gate A30 making a near 180 to the south and then making a full 180 degree turn back towards the north onto taxiway Sierra from a marker called India 2 and stopping there just short of the movement area line or holding point at the intersection of Sierra and Charie.
This end gate is bound be 2 active taxiways. One on the north side and west side. Then since the wingspan is so wide on the 787, the other challenge is the concourse with planes in the gates on the east side. So almost all traffic on 2 taxiways has to stop and in the alleyway by the concourse. We had to push tail north at the beginning to get the aircraft out and away from the concourse. Then tail south to get out of the north taxiway. And give enough room as to not hit the planes at the gates. And then back tail north again to get on the north/south taxiway to set him up to go to the correct runway.
Oh I actually do not know! It is super low geared..made for power. There is a 3rd gear… I will have to double check to see about the speedometer! I have never noticed them 😁 I typically push by feel.
@@ladyandtheramp tx again Jessica! :) i really enjoy your video, and enjoy when u reply to peolple!! tx again for ur kindness!! much appreciate to see someone who loves her job that much too!!!! will have a special tough if i ever go back to any airport :)
Most pushback drivers have them start #1 closer to the end of the push due to not wanting that force to go against the push tug as they are still moving.
There are several reasons. - typically they don’t put wide bodies at that gate. So it has to go a lot farther out to start as to not hit the other aircraft in the gates. - the tower also directed the push driver to put the aircraft onto the actual taxiway. Which is also not standard. - and to put it tail north (typically we do tail south) so that when the aircraft is released it is positioned correctly on the taxiway to allow them to go forward in the proper direction - during this push, all other traffic was paused. Which is kind of a big deal. They created a lot of space for the large aircraft so as to not even come close to having other traffic interfere and possibly causing any type of collision.
Coming out of this end gate…there are several challenges. There is an active taxiway just to the north and and active taxiway to the west. Then the gates with planes on them to the east. So the tower cleared traffic on both taxiways. So pushed the tail south to clear the north taxiway and the gates. Then pushed tail north and set him up right on the taxiway to the runway. It was like a giant S curve.
That is the bypass pin. It bypass the hydraulic system. It is inserted prior to pushing the aircraft, giving the control of the plane to the ground crew. When the push is completed and the brakes are set…the pin is pulled returning control to the flight deck. 😁
The tower tells where they want the plane to be dropped or released at. It is up to the pushback driver to get the plane to that point. At PHX we have several different lines designating different parts of the gate, alleyway and taxiway. So usually the pushback driver uses those as their markers or guide lines.
I know :( Our mechanics take great care of our fleet. I see first hand how if anything is wrong, it is always checked. Even if it is a clip on a net that doesn’t work. I appreciate being able to see “behind the scenes” a bit and see the constant vigilance on safety :)
I don’t believe they still use old school towing equipment and guess work for such expensive machines as I didn't see any particular pavement markings on the tarmac that the towing vehicle operator was following while towing/pushing this baby. Wow. Good news for the aircraft insurance company. 🥴
It is called the Dreamliner. The 787-900 came into service in 2014. We have seen more of them at our station, typically on long, cross country flights of international flights to London Heathrow :)
