The suction from the intake of the Rolls Royce RB211 engine is huge. It will pick up dirt, stones, water; literally anything loose from the surface of the ramp.

Powerback at Agra.

James McBride
Nov 6 · 9 min read

How not to flush your airline career down the toilet.

I wrote a story some time ago about the events of a diversion in India with a B757 while trying to carry out a charter flight into and out of Agra. This airport is the aerial gateway for tourists to visit the Taj Mahal — hence the title of the piece, “Monument to Love”. Where the story ended was with our successful approach and landing into Agra airport which is a military base for the Indian Air Force. However, after landing was where our biggest problem confronted us…

Our taxi instructions from the Tower led us down increasingly narrow taxiways, past rows of military hardware, towards the tiny civilian area of the airport. We were prepared for this as we had studied the airfield briefing, which stated there was only enough room on the tiny concrete civil ramp for an airliner and nothing else. What we were not expecting was that there would be any other aircraft present when we parked up. Unfortunately, we could see a white bizjet parked on the apron which was going to restrict our manoeuvring considerably. Following the marshaller’s instructions, I used full lock on the 757 steering tiller to turn right through 90 degrees, prior to turning back left again the same amount. The First Officer (and safety pilot) were both straining to look through the righthand side windows to ensure it was all clear as we turned. As we turned fully to the left, I could see there was insufficient space to go very far forward as the corporate jet was blocking that side of the ramp, there was just enough room to get the nosewheels straight and then apply the parking brake. We shutdown the engines, switched off the seatbelts signs and completed the checklists. It was very quiet in the flightdeck as I said, “Hmmm, that was fun. I wonder what time that bizjet is due to go…”

We disembarked the passengers with suitable apologies for our late arrival and wished them well as we commenced the turnround. As I had flown into Agra as Pilot Flying, I briefed the new trainee First Officer that he was going to operate from Agra to Istanbul and left him in the cockpit setting up for the departure. I then went down the stairs to look at the parking situation. What I found made my skin go cold despite the hot temperature. I checked to see if they had a tug and towbar for a Boeing 757 — no chance, the nearest one was in Delhi! I looked carefully at the spacing on the ramp, there was not enough room for us to taxi left after engine start to avoid hitting the bizjet. It was only a few metres ahead of the nose of the 75’. It needed to be moved, no question about it. I found the dispatcher and asked him if the white jet would be moving soon… He replied affirmatively with a smile and a shake of the head, “Oh Yes Sir! In two days’ time!” So, I explained to him the problem and said we would have to move it, or we were stuck here for the next two days. He looked blank, so I said “I need to speak to the supervisor. Where is the Airport Manager for the civilian terminal? Please get him here now”. While the manager was called for, I checked my watch, it was 10 am in Agra, but 5.30 am in London — I knew there was no point in trying to call the duty management pilot at that time of the morning. Besides which, what would he say? “Wait another two days…” I didn’t think so.

…we had 230 grumpy, delayed passengers in his terminal,

Shortly after this, a smartly dressed man appeared and introduced himself as ‘The Airport Manager’ — I explained the problem to him. “Please can we somehow move this business jet? We will not be able get past it without colliding with our righthand engine”. To which he responded, “…but Captain you can turn very tightly to the left… no?” I paced it out and showed him where our right engine would track over the ground, even with full steering lock on the tiller. It would contact the left wing of the jet, no doubt about it. The obstacle had to move… or something… He looked very unhappy and said that the little white jet belonged to some government bigwig and it was all locked up for the next two days. Knowing he (we) had 230 grumpy, delayed passengers in his terminal, I racked my brains for a solution. Yes, there was one, but I had never done a powerback before. I explained it to him and said, “It is THE ONLY WAY we are going to get out of here, however I NEED your permission to do the powerback. I warn you now my friend, it is going to be VERY NOISY!” He agreed that we could do it, so I went to prepare. My head was swimming as I walked away, are we really going to do this…?

Now it is worth mentioning that ‘powerbacks’ with jet airliners are a thing of the past. Seriously, they went out in the 1980s. I was aware however, that in 1989 when I completed my initial training on the type that the manoeuvre was still included in the Flight Crew Training Manual provided by Boeing. Certainly, by this time (2006) there was no longer any mention of ‘powerback’ in the company flight manuals. I spoke with the Safety Pilot and ‘flying spanner’ (travelling engineer) and they agreed with me that there was insufficient room to taxi out without collision — it was the only way. So, I got them and a couple of the cabin crew down onto the ramp and briefed them on the next step. “Look guys, we HAVE to clear the ramp of every little stone, rock, pebble and chip — it MUST BE as clean as possible!” So, we carried out an intensive FOD Plod of the entire concrete area that we would be using for the powerback, especially under where the engines would track. I noted with dismay however that there was only so much we could do. Anyone who has spent time in India will be familiar with all the dust that settles on any piece of flat ground, the apron was covered in it, but no time for that now. At least we collected and dumped all the little stones and pieces of debris. The ramp was as clean as we could make it in the time available.

…the rest of the crew were prepping the aircraft ready to fly and I was consumed with worry…

After that I went to the rear of the maingear tyres and paced out how far we could reverse without the rear wheels going off the edge of the concrete, it was 15 paces. I allowed a little for error — we could have moved 20 paces back, but we only needed 15 by my calculation. All the time, the rest of the crew were prepping the aircraft ready to fly and I was consumed with worry about whether I was doing the right thing. But what else could I do? The poor pax had been delayed for 24 hours anyway and to now send them back to their hotels would mean a riot. Plus, the company would lose a jet from the programme for 2 days… Just not acceptable — a powerback would solve all our problems. It’s just that I’ve never done one before, came the little voice in my head. Stop it! Get on with it! I scolded myself, let’s get this thing done! Now I knew that I needed to know where to stop the aircraft reversing — that was vital, but of course we had nil rearward vision and I could not trust the marshallers. They had got us into this mess in the first place.

It should be normal for them, provided of course I didn’t sit the damned thing on its tail…

So, I walked over to the far righthand side of the concrete. Not very far in reality as it was such a small area. I placed a large lump of spare concrete on the edge of the ramp directly abeam the flightdeck windows, after which I marched 15 paces backwards in the direction we would be reversing to place another lump there. One last look over at the space behind the maingear bogies… Hmmm… doesn’t look a lot of room to me… then back onboard the jet, just as the passengers started arriving. Very soon the cabin was full, the refuelling had been done and cargo holds closed, just the main L2 door still open. I delivered the PA to the passengers from the forward galley in full view of them all, not something which I enjoyed, but a necessary evil. They have a right to see us face to face and it helps to get them to empathise with the crew. As I was talking to them, having carefully considered the wording of the announcement, I briefly thought about mentioning the planned powerback… Should I tell them? But, no, I decided that it would only be loud for a few seconds after engine start and maybe they wouldn’t really notice. I did however brief the cabin crew and made sure they knew it was going to be plenty noisy after start up. They were already used to moving backwards after start, so that should be normal for them, provided of course I didn’t sit the damned thing on its tail…

“inside I was trembling and quivering with anxiety, My God what a mess!”

Now all four of us were in the flightdeck, strapped in and the L2 door closed. We had received the Cabin Secure from Sara. I looked outside and confirmed with the groundcrew we were clear to start engines. It was unusually quiet as the RB211s spooled up and once idling, we completed the after-start procedures, here we go… I waved off the groundcrew and he took the chocks, standing well clear over to our left. During my briefing to the guys in the cockpit I re-emphasised that I MUST have my feet flat on the floor during the powerback and they agreed to check me. This would prevent me trying to use the brakes to arrest our rearward travel. If I did that, then there was a chance of tipping the whole airliner onto its tail! The feeling was completely weird however as I released the parking brake, put my feet flat on the deck and engaged reverse thrust on both engines. No time for doubt now…let’s get this thing done! I said to myself. Outward I may have seemed entirely confident, but inside I was trembling and quivering with anxiety, My God what a mess! Let’s pray this works… never done this before… I gradually applied reverse thrust, the noise level increased to a muted roar behind as the engines strained to pull 110 tonnes of airliner backwards. “It’s not moving!” I stated in as matter of fact a voice as possible, four pairs of eyes looked to the right at the concrete block abeam our position. The dust clouds being blown forwards were intensifying, but we could still see the rock. “We need more power…” and I pulled the reversers up higher, my God she’s heavy, c’mon baby, you can do it… There was a complete dust storm outside the windows and the roaring behind us was incredible. Huge powerful vibrations could be felt through the whole ship.

I reduced the power as soon as we overcame the inertia.

NOW! She moves…! Gradually rolling backwards, we all looked for the other rock and slowly it appeared. I reduced the power as soon as we overcame the inertia. I glanced out front and the little white jet had completely disappeared, we had a brownout. As the flightdeck came abeam the second rock, I cancelled reverse and engaged forward thrust. The temptation to use my feet was intense, but I knew I must not do it. There was a momentary doubt that we would not stop going backwards in time, but I should not have worried, the aircraft was really heavy and stopped easily. Now as we focused on the forward motion and prepared to taxi, we could all see one very dirty private jet! Honestly, it was totally covered in dust and the sight did not make me feel at all comfortable. Thank God we picked up all the stones. I started to increase the power and as we felt the machine roll forward, I wound on full steering lock to the left and followed the marshaller’s instructions to exit the tiny apron.

We collectively breathed a huge sigh of relief as we straightened up on the taxiway. Next stop, Istanbul Ataturk airport… we had escaped!

James McBride ©

Checkout YouTube for a Powerback of a TUI B757 at Skiathos on the runway after they had just overshot the turnoff for the apron. Captain I salute you. I don’t know who you are, but you’re a brave man (or woman).

Capt James McBride — author of 4 books available on Amazon.com (and Amazon.co.uk etc) He is an experienced commercial aviator with a passionate interest in Flight Safety and Training.

James McBride

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FLIGHTS OF PASSION

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