SF34 CREW WAS MARSHALLED INTO AN ACFT THAT WAS BLOCKING THEIR DEP.

Narrative

ON JAN/SAT/04; MYSELF AND FO WERE DEPARTING FLT FROM ZZZ TO EVV FROM GATE. AFTER RECEIVING THE SIGNALS TO START THE ENGS; WE STARTED UP. WE WERE BEHIND ANOTHER ACFT; WITH PLANES ON BOTH SIDES OF US AS WELL. THE MARSHALLER INDICATED THAT WE WOULD BE MARSHALLED OUT DIAGONALLY INBTWN THE ACFT IN FRONT OF US AND TO OUR R. WE INITIALLY REJECTED THIS IDEA; WORRIED THAT WE WOULD NOT HAVE ENOUGH CLRNC. HOWEVER; WING WALKERS APPEARED AND GAVE US THE THUMBS UP; SO WE DECIDED TO PROCEED. WE MOVED SLOWLY AND TO OUR R FOLLOWING THE DIRECTIONS OF OUR MARSHALLER. AS OUR R WINGTIP APCHED THE WINGTIP OF THE ACFT NEXT TO US; THE FO SAID 'STOP.' I STOPPED AND SET THE BRAKES. AT LEAST ONE MORE WING WALKER APPEARED AT OUR R WINGTIP; AND EVENTUALLY ALL THE WING WALKERS AND MARSHALLER GAVE US THE SIGNAL TO PROCEED. ANOTHER MARSHALLER JOINED THE PRIMARY MARSHALLER IN FRONT OF US; ALSO GIVING THE SIGNAL TO PROCEED. I RELEASED THE PARKING BRAKE AND LITERALLY INCHED FORWARD SO AS TO BE ABLE TO STOP QUICKLY IF NEEDED. AFTER MOVING FORWARD A FEW INCHES; THE FO SAID 'WE HIT HIM.' I STOPPED IMMEDIATELY AND SET THE PARKING BRAKE. ONLY THEN DID OUR MARSHALLERS GIVE US THE SIGNAL TO STOP. OUR R WINGTIP HAD APPARENTLY MADE CONTACT WITH THE WING OF THE ACFT NEXT TO US. WHEN WE WERE MADE AWARE OF THIS; I SHUT DOWN THE ENGS. OUR PAX WERE DEPLANED NORMALLY AND WE SECURED THE ACFT. THE DAMAGE WAS CONFINED TO OUR R STROBE LIGHT AND THE OTHER AIRPLANE'S L NAV LIGHT. THE ONLY WAY THIS INCIDENT COULD HAVE BEEN AVOIDED WOULD HAVE BEEN TO NOT EVEN ATTEMPT IT AT ALL. RAMP PERSONNEL HAVE BEEN KNOWN TO BE 'CREATIVE' WHEN MARSHALLING; AND RISKS HAVE BEEN TAKEN. LOOKING BACK I THINK I WAS LULLED INTO A FALSE SENSE OF SECURITY BY THE MULTITUDE OF WING WALKERS AND MARSHALLERS. IN THE FUTURE; I'M SURE I WILL LET MY SKEPTICISM SPEAK AT LEAST AS LOUD AS MY TRUST WHEN SAFETY IS CONCERNED. SUPPLEMENTAL INFO FROM ACN 604107: ON JAN/SAT/04; I WAS WORKING FLT FROM ZZZ TO EVV. THE FLT WAS DEPARTING FROM GATE. THE FLT WAS SCHEDULED TO DEPART AT XA45 LCL TIME. WE FINISHED THE CHKLISTS AND AFTER RECEIVING THE SIGN FROM THE MARSHALLER HAD STARTED ONE ENG AT APPROX XA40. AT THIS TIME WE NOTED THAT WE WERE BASICALLY BOXED IN. WE HAD AN ACFT DIRECTLY IN FRONT OF US; AND ONE ON EACH SIDE OF US. WE OPTED TO START THE SECOND ENG; WHILE WAITING FOR ONE OF THE ACFT TO START UP AND MOVE OUT OF THE WAY SO WE COULD TAXI OUT OF THE RAMP AREA. AFTER BOTH ENGS WERE RUNNING; IT BECAME APPARENT THAT NONE OF THE OTHER ACFT WOULD BE MOVING ANYTIME SOON. THERE WAS A MARSHALLER IN FRONT OF US WHO BEGAN MOTIONING FOR US TO TRY TO TURN DIAGONALLY TO OUR R AND TAXI BTWN 2 ACFT. WE INITIALLY DECIDED THAT THE SPACE WAS TOO SMALL TO TAXI THROUGH; HOWEVER; MULTIPLE WING WALKERS SHOWED UP AND SAID IT WAS CLR. WE HAD ONE MARSHALLER IN FRONT OF THE ACFT; A SECOND ONE STANDING IN THE GAP BTWN THE 2 ACFT WE WERE TO TAXI BTWN; AND ONE WING WALKER ON EACH WING. WITH ALL OF THEM SAYING THAT IT WAS CLR; WE DECIDED TO TAXI VERY SLOWLY AND GIVE IT A TRY. CAPT X RELEASED THE PARKING BRAKE AND BEGAN TO TAXI EXTREMELY SLOWLY. AFTER MOVING JUST A FEW FT; MAYBE LESS; THE WING WALKER ON MY SIDE OF THE ACFT SIGNALED FOR US TO STOP; WHICH WE DID. OUR WINGTIP WAS GETTING VERY CLOSE TO THE OTHER ACFT'S WINGTIP. AS HE WAS TELLING US TO STOP; THE MARSHALLER WHO WAS NOW IN FRONT OF US CONTINUED TO SIGNAL FOR US TO MOVE FORWARD. WE SIGNALED TO HIM THAT THE WING WALKER ON THE R SIDE OF THE ACFT WAS SAYING STOP. A GROUP OF RAMP WORKERS WENT OVER AND TALKED WITH THE WING WALKER; WHO THEN SHOOK HIS HEAD AND WALKED OUT OF MY SIGHT. WE NOW HAD 2-3 WING WALKERS WHICH HAD REPLACED HIM STANDING DIRECTLY UNDER OUR R WING GIVING ME THE THUMBS UP THAT IT WAS CLR. I TOLD THE CAPT THAT THERE WERE MULTIPLE PEOPLE STANDING UNDER THE WING SAYING IT WAS CLR. I DOUBLE-CHKED AGAIN WITH HAND SIGNALS TO MAKE SURE OF NO MISCOM. THEY ONCE AGAIN GAVE THE THUMBS UP. WE BEGAN TO MOVE THE ACFT FORWARD; THIS TIME EVEN SLOWER THAN THE LAST; AND WITHIN MAYBE 2 SECONDS OF STARTING TO MOVE WE MADE CONTACT WITH THE OTHER ACFT'S WING. I IMMEDIATELY SAID STOP AND THE CAPT SET THE PARKING BRAKE AND SHUT DOWN THE ENGS. WE COMPLETED THE NECESSARY SHUTDOWN CHKLISTS; HAD OUT PAX DEPLANED; AND SECURED THE ACFT. I FEEL THE MAIN REASON THIS HAPPENED IS DUE TO THE QUALITY OF THE RAMP PERSONNEL IN ZZZ. COMPANY HAS RECENTLY STARTED CONTRACTING OUR GND HANDLING OF THE SAAB ACFT. I FEEL THAT THEY ARE POORLY TRAINED; POORLY PAID; AND POORLY CHOSEN. IT IS YET ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF HOW AIRLINES ARE TRYING TO CUT COSTS; EVEN THOUGH IT JEOPARDIZES THE SAFETY OF BOTH EMPLOYEES AND PAX ALIKE. WE AS PLTS ARE THE FINAL AUTH AS FAR AS TO WHAT WE DO WITH OUR ACFT; BUT WE ALSO NEED TO BE ABLE TO TRUST PEOPLE THAT ARE WING WALKING AND MARSHALLING US. HAD THOSE PEOPLE NOT BEEN STANDING DIRECTLY UNDER OUR WING TELLING US IT WAS CLR; THIS NEVER WOULD HAVE HAPPENED.