A B727; AFTER PUSHBACK AND ENG START AND PRIOR TO THE WAVE OFF BY THE GND CREW; BEGAN TO TAXI AND STRUCK A TOWBAR.

Narrative

THE INCIDENT TOOK PLACE IN AN ACR B727 AT NIGHT IN DTW. ACR PROCS WERE IN EFFECT (RECEIVING PUSH/TAXI INSTRUCTIONS VIA ACARS). THE ACFT WAS PUSHED BACK AND TOWED TO THE TOP OF THE ALLEY. 2 ENGS WERE STARTED FOR A DELAYED ENG START. AFTER THE SECOND ENG WAS STARTED; THE SO DELAYED HIS AFTER ENG START FLOW THINKING WE WERE STARTING ALL 3 ENGS. A DELAYED ENG START WAS CONFIRMED AND I PASSED A TAXI REQUEST VIA ACARS AS PER ACR PROCS. I WAS LISTENING ON METRO GND CTL FREQ AND NOT THE INTERPHONE. A MESSAGE WAS RECEIVED VIA ACARS TO CONTACT METRO GND; WHICH I DID; WHEN A BREAK IN RADIO XMISSIONS ALLOWED. DURING THIS TIME THE GND PERSONNEL WERE DISCONNECTING THE ACFT FROM THE TUG. METRO GND CLRED US TO TAXI FOLLOWING AN XYZ ACR ACFT FROM THE R. I INFORMED THE CAPT THAT OUR SEQUENCE WAS BEHIND THE XYZ ACR ACFT. SINCE I WAS BUSY WITH THE ACARS AND THE RADIO; I WAS NOT AWARE OF THE STATUS OF GND PERSONNEL. THE CAPT BEGIN TO TAXI AND AFTER A FEW FT; THE NOSE GEAR CAME IN CONTACT WITH THE TOW BAR. THE GND PERSONNEL RE-ESTABLISHED COM AND INFORMED US THAT WE HAD HIT THE TOW BAR. THE CAPT HAD NOT RECEIVED THE 'WAVE' BEFORE TAXIING. THE GND PERSONNEL INSPECTED THE NOSE GEAR AND NOTED NO DAMAGE; SO WE PROCEEDED TO ATLANTA. THIS PROB COULD HAVE BEEN AVOIDED IN 3 WAYS: 1) THE CAPT NEEDS TO RECEIVE A WAVE BEFORE TAXIING. 2) THE FO SHOULD NOT CALL FOR TAXI UNTIL THE WAVE HAS BEEN RECEIVED. 3) THE SO SHOULD NOT LET THE CAPT TAXI UNTIL THE BEFORE TAXI CHK HAS BEEN COMPLETED.