PUSHBACK GND CREW FAIL TO UNDERSTAND TKOF RWY INSTRUCTIONS FROM FLT CREW AND BREAK THE ACFT TOW PIN ASSEMBLY WHILE ATTEMPTING TO REVERSE DIRECTIONS.

Narrative

DURING PUSHBACK WHILE STARTING THE L ENG; THE GND PERSON ASKED ME A QUESTION WHICH I INTERPED AS TO WHICH DIRECTION AND/OR RWY WE WERE USING. HE WAS VERY HARD TO HEAR BECAUSE OF THE BACKGND NOISE FROM THE ENG. I STATED THAT WE WERE USING RWY 10R THEN REPEATED 'RWY 10R.' BECAUSE WE WERE ON AN OUTSIDE GATE FACING RWY 10R WHERE THERE WERE MULTIPLE TKOFS BEING CONDUCTED WHILE WE PUSHED; I THOUGHT THAT THIS SHOULD BE OBVIOUS TO THE PUSHBACK CREW; OR THAT THEY WOULD HAVE AN IDEA OF WHERE TO PUSH THE AIRPLANE. WE HAD BEEN CLRED TO PUSH BACK ONTO THE ACTIVE TXWY. WHILE MONITORING THE ENG START; THE FO AND I NOTICED THE NOSE OF THE ACFT STARTING TO TURN E; THE WRONG DIRECTION FOR THE TAXI TO RWY 10R. I STATED CLRLY TO THE CREW THAT THE TAIL OF THE ACFT NEEDS TO POINT E FOR A WBOUND TAXI TO RWY 10R. THEN AGAIN REPEATED THAT THEY WERE POINTING THE ACFT THE WRONG DIRECTION. THE ACFT STOPPED; THERE SEEMED TO BE SOME CONFUSION; THEN THE PLANE STARTED TO ROTATE AROUND THE OPPOSITE DIRECTION. NEXT THING I KNEW THE FO STATED THE TUG WAS 90 DEGS TO THE NOSE OF THE ACFT AND THERE SEEMED TO BE A PROB. THEN WE HEARD A LOUD CRACK. THE GND PERSON ASKED ME TO SET THE BRAKES AND THEN A MECH WAS CALLED. THE TUG DRIVER HAD BROKEN THE TOW PIN ASSEMBLY ON THE NOSE GEAR STRUT AND THE TOW PIN WAS NO LONGER COMPLETELY ATTACHED TO THE TOW PIN ASSEMBLY. WE TAXIED IN TO THE GATE ON THE L ENG; THE MECHS REMOVED THE ASSEMBLY AND WE WERE PUSHED OUT WITH A SUPER TUG. I SPOKE WITH THE PUSHBACK CREW SUPVR WHO TOLD ME THAT THE CREWS ARE NOT BRIEFED ON UNUSUAL RWY CONFIGNS AND THEY HAVE NO KNOWLEDGE OF FLT OPS AS PERTAINING TO THE NAME OF A RWY. THEY ALSO HAVE NO TRAINING OR EXPERIENCE ON TURNING THE ACFT IN THE SITUATION WE WERE IN OR KNOWLEDGE OF THE LIMITS TO WHICH THEY CAN TURN THE NOSE GEAR STRUT ON PUSHBACK WITHOUT BREAKING IT. WE WERE FULLY LOADED (244 PAX) AND TOOK A 1 HR 3 MIN DELAY.