Airplane Lunged Forward When It Was Stuck From Behind By A Tug That Was Towing An Unoccupied Airliner Analysis: At the conclusion of the air taxi flight, the flight crew were taxiing the small twin-engine airplane to their assigned gate at night. The crew were holding short of the gate area and awaiting clearance to enter. After holding for about 10 minutes with the airplane’s parking brake set, the flight crew heard a loud noise and the airplane lunged forward when it was stuck from behind by a tug that was towing an unoccupied airliner. The small airplane sustained substantial damage to its elevator and horizontal stabilizer. The tug’s windshield was damaged during the collision, and the airliner was not damaged.