i was on a northwest flight out of memphis last week waiting for the plane to backed out from the gate. as always, you expect to feel a jolt when the the groundcrew begins pushing the plane with the truck.
instead, the pilot increased power to the engines, and we began backing out. he braked after we backed out, and we immediately began moving forward. he had used reverse-thrust to back out -- something i had never experienced before, and wrote a note to him requesting some information on why this isn't done more often.
from capt. doug anderson:
Aircraft that have non-wing mounted engines are certified by the FAA to "power-back" from gates that the airline & FAA have surveyed. Northwest does this with 727s & DC9s where it can safely be allowed. Safety first, as there is a great amount of "blow back thrust" when accomplishing this procedure.
just curious if any other ft's have seen this maneuver performed on a regular basis on other airlines?