Returning to some earlier posts on the topic of reporting of incdents it a shocks me to find a culture of if you damage an aircraft you are down the Road end of story
I have investigated numerous incidents over the years where damage has been caused to aircraft, from an Aerodrome authority position which oversees the airside activities of third parties working airside.
Only one incident I can remember resulted in the dismissal of a member of staff, this was due to the failure to report damage caused to the aircraft to the relevant authorities.
In this current economic climate, almost everyone is concerned about keeping their jobs, supporting a family, possibly with a mortgage, incidents of unreported damage to aircraft in my opinion risk becoming more frequent, especially if people are threatened with dismissal if you damage an aircraft.
Perhaps this was a factor why this DC9 damage was not reported
The only exception to this may be if you were acting in a reckless manner when it occurred, in which case the person/s would have very little defence.