"Over the past five years@ the Air Transport Association (ATA) Ground Safety Committee (GSC) has been gathering and assessing industry-level data related to aircraft ground damage. For the purposes of this document@ ""aircraft ground damage"" is defined as damage suffered by aircraft as a result of their being struck by@ pushed or towed into vehicles@ structures or other aircraft@ or otherwise damaged in the course of conducting maintenance or flight preparation operations. Over time@ a pattern has become evident. Four sources of aircraft ground damage consistently show up as the most common: - Inadvertent deployment of evacuation slides and tailcones - Passenger boarding bridge-related damage (operator error or collisions during aircraft movement) - Damage suffered during towing and pushback operations - Collisions between aircraft and baggage handling equipment (beltloaders@ tugs and carts) This document is intended to provide users with a set of recommended practices tailored to address the unique hazards and potential pitfalls that lead to these kinds of damage."