Tug Towing At Newark International

Arrived on the VS 1 this eveing, and after leaving the runway we stopped on the taxiway to the apron at which point the engines were spooled down before the aircraft was towed by the tug to the gate !

Is this the 'Green Issue' or are the stands at Newark tight for space ?

I'm a reasonably frequent user of VS1 and IME this towing has happened about 30% of the time. It has always been explained by the flight deck as the gate having tight access. (oo-er missus)

David

Reasonably common when you're trying to get an aircraft onto a stand where there is a bit of a tight fit.

Some of the UA stands at LAX require that 747-400s are shutdown on the taxiway, and towed onto stand with a tug.

Mike

Originally posted by mike-smashing
Reasonably common when you're trying to get an aircraft onto a stand where there is a bit of a tight fit.

Some of the UA stands at LAX require that 747-400s are shutdown on the taxiway, and towed onto stand with a tug.

Every time we've flown into LAX the aircraft has been towed onto the stand. ISTRC announcements being made that this was "due to local regulations". I always had this pegged as a union issue, but perhaps it was shorthand for "we're not trusted to park our own aircraft".

Paul

The VS 1 arrives around the evening rush hour for EWR flights so the tug was probably used for safety reasons.

I'd say probably 90% of the times I've flown into EWR we've been towed into the stand. The captain has always come on and appologised for the little bit longer that it takes, but says that it is necessary because of the gate configuration in EWR.

If you're flying out of EWR, watch from inside the terminal when the inbound aircraft arrives and you'll see that it is pretty tight. They actually bring the aircraft in at an offset angle then pull it into the gate almost on a curve.

I'd imagine it takes some practice on the part of the tug driver to hit the marks with something as big as a 744... I've towed around many a regional jet, but nothing with the mass of a widebody...