Originally Posted by
JammedStab
I notice that the first statement from ATC is that they have information from the de-icing facility personnel that the aircraft is not on the centerline. Based on the likely amount of time that it would take to taxi through this area and the amount of time it would take to relay the message to ATC, I suspect that the pole strike had already happened by the time that the aircraft was given the warning by ATC.
Adding further to this statement. It appears from the information that I have gleaned from the internet, that the pole was knocked over and the aircraft continued on for a little while with the lamp from the top of the pole having detatched from it and remaining in/on the wing. It was later removed by emergency crews.
That might explain why it appears that the crew stated that they might have barely felt something but didn't think it was a collision and continued on for a while after the collision until notified of a problem by ATC.
I think it is very easly to not realize that you have hit something under certain circumstances.