A tow crew member was towing an L-1011 from one hangar to the terminals. As he approached a taxiway intersection, he made the turn onto the assigned taxiway. Suddenly, ground control called him, asking if he had lost something.
Sure enough, he had—the Tristar had broken free after the shear pins gave way. As the tow crew looked around in panic, the aircraft came barreling past him on the outer taxiway, with the remains of the towbar dangling from the nose gear. Inside the cockpit, the engineer was in shock, his face alternating between bright red and pale white.
The redness was from the coffee he had spilled on himself when he overheard ground control’s question. He quickly realized that he had no control over the steering or brakes because the APU was out of commission. Frantically, he pumped the pedals, trying desperately to slow down the L-1011.
Thankfully, the story ended without incident.
