Originally Posted by
ea306
Not implying any blame on any individuals involved by making the following comment:
More than once when years ago operating as an FO on both wide body and narrow body aircraft I have managed to help us as a crew avoid such collisions with ground equipment by looking both right and left as we approached the gate. The Captain on at least three occasions I can recall was focused on the Docking Guidance System and aligning the aircraft. At the end of long duty days mistakes can and do happen. Not making excuses...but just saying...FO's can be a big help during those last couple minutes of the day.
Now there is a great post. How to prevent such a thing. It is very easy to get very focused on the taxi in. Monitoring ground speed and the marshaller and the centreline. Remember that many times it is the FO taxiing in so the non-taxiing crewmember should be taking extra time to look around.