A towbarless tractor includes a prime mover, a capture system including a cradle configured to support a nose gear and a winch assembly including a winch strap configured to selectively couple with the nose gear, the winch assembly configured to selectively retract the winch strap to pull the towbarless tractor towards the airplane such that the cradle is pulled underneath the nose gear, and a control system configured to at least one of automatically retract the winch strap in response to the cradle being in a lifted position without the nose gear being supported thereby and without the winch strap being retracted, limit operation of the prime mover, engage a brake, or prevent releasing the brake in response to determining that the winch strap is not fully retracted, or automatically stop retracting the winch strap in response to the winch strap being fully retracted.

An aircraft recognition system includes a ground support equipment including a sensor configured to acquire data regarding one or more external characteristics of aircrafts and one or more processing circuits configured to: at least one of: (a) acquire a location of the ground support equipment or (b) acquire the data from the sensor regarding the one or more external characteristics of a respective aircraft proximate the ground support equipment, and determine a type of the respective aircraft based on at least one of the location of the ground support equipment or the data.

A system and method for enhancing aircraft tugging safety is disclosed. The system may include a plurality of sensors mounted at various locations of an aircraft configured to sense the proximity of objects. It may also include a controller with processors to process sensor data and generate proximity information, and a proximity alert indicator with multiple proximity indication lights in vertical columns configured to activate based on the proximity information.