A B737 FLC FOR AN ACR WAS ATTEMPTING TO START THEIR ENGS FOR A REPOSITIONING FLT AND THOUGHT THAT THEY HAD BEEN GIVEN THE 'ALL CLR' SIGNAL; BUT AS THE #2 ENG WAS SPOOLING UP THEY DISCOVERED THAT THE FUELER WAS STILL UNDER THE R WING. THE FLC SHUT DOWN UNTIL CLRED FOR START AGAIN.

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AFTER OFF-LOADING 18 PAX IN BGM; THE GATE AGENT CLOSED THE CABIN DOOR AND PULLED THE JETWAY AWAY FROM THE ACFT. WE WERE FERRYING THE ACFT TO PHL. I TOOK MY SEAT AND CALLED FOR THE BEFORE START CHKLIST. THE FO AND I COMPLETED THE CHKLIST DOWN TO THE 'LINE.' I LOOKED OUT IN FRONT OF THE ACFT AND GAVE THE ENG START SIGNAL (ROTATING MY INDEX FINGER) TO A RAMP WORKER ON THE GND. HE LOOKED AT ME AND TURNED AWAY TOWARD A COMMUTER ACFT. I GAVE THE SAME SIGNAL TO THE GATE AGENT WHO WAS POSITIONED OUTSIDE OF THE JETWAY; BUT ON THE TOP STEP OF THE JETWAY STAIRWELL; WHICH WAS NOW LOCATED DIRECTLY IN FRONT OF OUR COCKPIT. SHE POINTED BACK TO ME IN A MANNER THAT I FELT SHE WAS ACKNOWLEDGING THAT WE WERE STARTING #2 ENG. WE COMPLETED THE CHKLIST AND ROTATED #2 ENG. AT THE POINT WE RAISED THE START LEVER; A RAMP WORKER WENT OUT IN FRONT OF THE ACFT AND GAVE US THE ENG CUTOFF SIGNAL. I SHUT OFF THE FUEL BY PLACING THE START LEVER TO CUTOFF. WE CONTINUED TO MOTOR THE ENG TO BLOW OUT ANY REMAINING FUEL AND THEN STOPPED THE START. I CALLED THE RAMP WORKER OVER TO THE PLANE TO EXPLAIN THAT I FELT I HAD BEEN CLRED TO START BY THE OTHER GND PERSONNEL AND WAS UNAWARE THE FUELER WAS STILL UNDERNEATH THE R WING. CALLBACK CONVERSATION WITH RPTR REVEALED THE FOLLOWING INFO: THE RPTR IS A B737-200 CAPT FOR AN ACR AND HE SAID THAT THE FLC WAS NOT IN A HURRY BECAUSE THEY HAD A 2 HR BREAK BEFORE THEIR NEXT FLT AT THE NEXT ARPT. HE SAID THAT THEY DID NOT REALIZE THAT FUELING WAS STILL IN PROGRESS BECAUSE THIS ACFT TYPE DOES NOT HAVE A DOOR LIGHT IN THE COCKPIT FOR THE FUELING DOOR AS IN LATER MODELS. HE SAID THAT HIS ATTEMPTS TO COMMUNICATE WITH GND PERSONNEL THROUGH THE USE OF HAND SIGNALS WAS NOT STANDARD. HE SAID THAT HE WILL USE THE INTERPHONE SYS IN THE FUTURE.