A320 flight crew reported marshaller using nonstandard signals to guide them into parking spot.

Attributes
ACN	850464
Time
Date	200909
Local Time Of Day	0601-1200
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.Airport
State Reference	US
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	A320
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Parked
Person 1
Function	Captain Pilot Flying
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 180 Flight Crew Total 13050 Flight Crew Type 1800
Person 2
Function	Pilot Not Flying First Officer
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 180 Flight Crew Total 10000 Flight Crew Type 1000
Events
Anomaly	Deviation - Procedural Other / Unknown Ground Event / Encounter Other / Unknown

Narrative:

Upon parking at the gate; there were 2 lead in lines right next to each other (less then 1 foot apart). The marshaller pointed to the widest line. I followed that line until I lost site of it under the nose. The signals the marshaller gave after that were confusing. He did not use the correct signals for right and left turns. He wanted me to go right but was using hand signals that looked more like left. We were very close to the jetway and the slightest variance could have been costly. Bottom line... Continuing training is necessary for anyone marshalling an aircraft.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A320 flight crew reported Marshaller using nonstandard signals to guide them into parking spot.

Narrative: Upon parking at the gate; there were 2 lead in lines right next to each other (less then 1 foot apart). The Marshaller pointed to the widest line. I followed that line until I lost site of it under the nose. The signals the Marshaller gave after that were confusing. He did not use the correct signals for right and left turns. He wanted me to go right but was using hand signals that looked more like left. We were very close to the jetway and the slightest variance could have been costly. Bottom line... continuing training is necessary for anyone marshalling an aircraft.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 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.