Does the 1000 hour co-pilot taxi the aircraft? But I agree it can contribute to the captains stresses and distractions.
Depends which airline the co-pilot works for. But in this situation it is irrelevant whether the co-pilot taxis or not; it is a two crew aircraft, so the co-pilot should voice his concerns if the captain is about to taxi with the tug still attached. Who is to say that the co-pilot didn't do this on this occassion? We don't know as we don't have the facts. What seems obvious is that the aircraft taxied with the tug still attached, so a mistake (possibly more than one) was made which lead to this unfortunate incident. It has happened many times before and will continue to happen as humans are not perfect. We are paid to risk manage and to adhere to systems which hopefully minimize that risk, but no system is perfect. I personally have always waited until I have seen the pin and got the wave off before completing the after start checklist, but my SOPs have changed which allow the majority of the after start checks to be completed before the pushback is complete.....I shall be taking extra, extra care over my first few days (and then onwards!) that we do indeed complete the checks after seeing the pin.....I can see potential for problems and mishaps due to a change in 'culture' with our new SOP for after start......
PP