Narrative:

After pushback, I found myself very close to another aircraft at gate. Before taxiing, I looked to the left and found myself close to other aircraft. I looked for wing walkers to guide me out of parking spot, but they were all walking away. I made a decision to taxi straight forward to ensure tail-to-tail separation (where the 2 DC9's did rub paint), but did not go far enough straight forward prior to turning. I should have ensured wing walkers prior to taxiing. Also, I'm not sure the damage wasn't done on the pushback by the ground crew. Supplemental information from acn 483663: about 45 mins into our flight from rdu-msp, our company sent us an ACARS message informing us of possible damage to our tail. A flight attendant, sitting in the seat next to us during pushback, felt a 'bump.' we diverted to dtw and landed uneventfully. Maintenance inspection of our jet showed a broken static wick on the left horizontal stabilizer and some paint scraped off on the top of the left horizontal stabilizer. We felt no 'bump' in our aircraft, neither on pushback nor taxi from the gate. The aircraft handled fine during the flight. I don't know if the ground crew pushed us into another jet or if we scraped the tails on initial taxi.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A DC9 CREW IS NOTIFIED INFLT THAT THEIR TAIL MAY HAVE SUFFERED SOME DAMAGE FROM CONTACT WITH ANOTHER ACFT WHILE DEPARTING RAMP AT RDU, NC.

Narrative: AFTER PUSHBACK, I FOUND MYSELF VERY CLOSE TO ANOTHER ACFT AT GATE. BEFORE TAXIING, I LOOKED TO THE L AND FOUND MYSELF CLOSE TO OTHER ACFT. I LOOKED FOR WING WALKERS TO GUIDE ME OUT OF PARKING SPOT, BUT THEY WERE ALL WALKING AWAY. I MADE A DECISION TO TAXI STRAIGHT FORWARD TO ENSURE TAIL-TO-TAIL SEPARATION (WHERE THE 2 DC9'S DID RUB PAINT), BUT DID NOT GO FAR ENOUGH STRAIGHT FORWARD PRIOR TO TURNING. I SHOULD HAVE ENSURED WING WALKERS PRIOR TO TAXIING. ALSO, I'M NOT SURE THE DAMAGE WASN'T DONE ON THE PUSHBACK BY THE GND CREW. SUPPLEMENTAL INFO FROM ACN 483663: ABOUT 45 MINS INTO OUR FLT FROM RDU-MSP, OUR COMPANY SENT US AN ACARS MESSAGE INFORMING US OF POSSIBLE DAMAGE TO OUR TAIL. A FLT ATTENDANT, SITTING IN THE SEAT NEXT TO US DURING PUSHBACK, FELT A 'BUMP.' WE DIVERTED TO DTW AND LANDED UNEVENTFULLY. MAINT INSPECTION OF OUR JET SHOWED A BROKEN STATIC WICK ON THE L HORIZ STABILIZER AND SOME PAINT SCRAPED OFF ON THE TOP OF THE L HORIZ STABILIZER. WE FELT NO 'BUMP' IN OUR ACFT, NEITHER ON PUSHBACK NOR TAXI FROM THE GATE. THE ACFT HANDLED FINE DURING THE FLT. I DON'T KNOW IF THE GND CREW PUSHED US INTO ANOTHER JET OR IF WE SCRAPED THE TAILS ON INITIAL TAXI.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2007 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.