Narrative:

After an extensive maintenance delay we were ready to push back. I failed to notice that there were no wing walkers during pushback. After the ground crew told me the tow bar and bypass pin were disconnected; I said 'disconnect headset.' it was then I observed that we had been pushed back by only the tug driver and he waved as he drove away. I called ops and asked for another marshaller to give me a proper release and clearance so that I could taxi. I was told the ramp supervisor was going to drive out and release me to taxi. A tug with 'ramp supervisor' on the door approached at my 1:00 O'clock position and a person got out and stood there with his arms out from his shoulders. No wands (it was dark) and not at the 45 degree down position. I repeatedly called ops and told them he was giving me signals that meant nothing to me. He persisted and then left; only to come back with wands and give me the same incorrect signal. After I wouldn't acknowledge his signal (?) he left. I asked ops and ramp if they could see the aircraft and they stated that they could. I made the decision to taxi; and we departed.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: B737 Captain reports a pushback with no wing walkers and a wave off by the tug driver; not using proper signals.

Narrative: After an extensive maintenance delay we were ready to push back. I failed to notice that there were no wing walkers during pushback. After the ground crew told me the tow bar and bypass pin were disconnected; I said 'Disconnect Headset.' It was then I observed that we had been pushed back by only the tug driver and he waved as he drove away. I called Ops and asked for another marshaller to give me a proper release and clearance so that I could taxi. I was told the Ramp Supervisor was going to drive out and release me to taxi. A tug with 'Ramp Supervisor' on the door approached at my 1:00 O'clock position and a person got out and stood there with his arms out from his shoulders. No wands (it was dark) and not at the 45 degree down position. I repeatedly called Ops and told them he was giving me signals that meant nothing to me. He persisted and then left; only to come back with wands and give me the same incorrect signal. After I wouldn't acknowledge his signal (?) he left. I asked Ops and Ramp if they could see the aircraft and they stated that they could. I made the decision to taxi; and we departed.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.