Marshaller with arms crossed against chest.

[nexeuk]

How would you interpret this?

I saw this recently where the orange batons were crossed against his orange safety vest at chest height and I couldn’t really see.

Would you interpret this as “stop” or we are not ready or something else?

Thanks

[AerocatS2A]

I wouldn’t know what he meant so would stop until I got clear signals.

[nexeuk]

I wouldn’t know what he meant so would stop until I got clear signals.
Thanks and that makes sense. But would you stop immediately on the taxiway or slowly move forward and stop before entering the manoeuvre area controlled by the marshaller?

[Asturias56]

If in doubt STOP right where you are - you can't see everything around you.

[DaveReidUK]

I saw this recently where the orange batons were crossed against his orange safety vest at chest height and I couldn’t really see.

Arms crossed over the chest is part of the standard signal for folding/unfolding wings.

Possible explanations:

(a) you were on an aircraft carrier at the time

(b) the marshaller was practising for the introduction of the 777-X

:O

[Asturias56]

I think its also used for Helicopters = LAND

but if you're certain you are not in a helicopter heaven knows. ;)

[iceman50]

I think it means he is not YOUR marshaller and he may have passed you onto another marshaller.

[lomapaseo]

It's not your gate move on

[ShyTorque]

It means he's not talking to you. At least, that's one of the signals my missus uses....

[Intruder]

I have seen marshallers 'park' the crossed wands over their chest, holding them in 1 hand, after stopping an airplane. The intent was to have the airplane hold there, often while chocks were being put in place.

May not be 'official', but more common than you might think...

[Airmann]

Speaking about marshalling, how does one indicate the direction of a push to ground personnel via hand signals from the cockpit?

[hans brinker]

Speaking about marshalling, how does one indicate the direction of a push to ground personnel via hand signals from the cockpit?

One of the few times I found the Spanish way better than the US way. In Spain the direction of the push is in reference to the nose, so easy to point to your nose, and to the required direction outside. Now I have to get up to point at my a$$ when using hand signals....

[Pander216]

Speaking about marshalling, how does one indicate the direction of a push to ground personnel via hand signals from the cockpit?

AFAIK there is no official hand signal. I establish eye contact with the respective person, point to my nose and subsequently in the direction the push needs to be performed. It is followed by the “brakes on” signal from my side, indicating ready for pushback.

If it gets more complicated (long push, push on a specific line etc.), I just open the window and shout. Not the most elegant solution, but it works ;)

[Klimax]

It means that he understands that you don't really give a sh@t about his guidance and he's just trying to confirm this by doing something weird. I would simply proceed and park my plane where you think it should be, shut down the engines and leave the rest for the ground crew to fix. Most airlines don't pay enough anymore for these types of concerns. Clear enough?

[421dog]

It means that he understands that you don't really give a sh@t about his guidance and he's just trying to confirm this by doing something weird. I would simply proceed and park my plane where you think it should be, shut down the engines and leave the rest for the ground crew to fix. Most airlines don't pay enough anymore for these types of concerns. Clear enough?
“Like”
(even though we aren’t equipped with the option)

[jjj2]

AFAIK there is no official hand signal. I establish eye contact with the respective person, point to my nose and subsequently in the direction the push needs to be performed. It is followed by the “brakes on” signal from my side, indicating ready for pushback.




This works well in Euroland. In the US they want to know which way the tail goes so...

[Private jet]

The marshaller is probably some guy or girl on 10 bucks an hour. If you have no idea if your aircraft is safely parked at that stage I would suggest that you have no place flying it there.

[ampclamp]

Speaking about marshalling, how does one indicate the direction of a push to ground personnel via hand signals from the cockpit?

Unofficial, but I have seen the pilot tap his nose and point in the direction required. "Nose this way "

Have used the same to the tug driver in the event of a change during push back.

Obviously verbal via a headset is best, but if it fails, something like the above may help.

[FullWings]

Ah yes. Marshalling. It runs the whole gamut from LHR BAA, resplendent in their Day-Glo livery, exuding authority and purpose through every degree-perfect twist of their spotless batons, to the guy in Abuja who dropped his gear and ran away as soon as it got difficult.

I find the USA falls between these two extremes but I’m never sure if a particular marshaller knows the difference between “identify gate” and “move ahead” as they appear to use these signals interchangeably...

[PAXboy]

This is not the gate you are looking for...

Hat. Coat.

[Sygyzy]

Mummy knows best!

Once upon a time we were being marshalled into the stand on a clear dry night (744F- MUC. IIRC). Stand was well lit and clear, yellow centre line clearly visible, marshaller in 10 o'clock position doing a great job...except he wasn't. He was calling for a left turn, way off the centre line, entirely contrary to what we were doing and we were RIGHT - SkyGahd speaking. A long day/night was finally over and we set the brakes to park and shutdown. As we did so I caught sight of the marshaller out of the corner of my eye, throwing his batons down in disgust and walking huffily away. Odd.

The ground intercom crackled. 'Had we not seen the marshaller, why didn't we follow his instructions?' 'Was this an important discussion right now? (What about 'chocks in'). 'Well yes, cos as this is a pax a/c stand the way you've parked the light pole is directly in front of the a/c and we can't open the nose door!! Please keep the brakes set whilst we go to the other side of the airport, find a tug and crew, come back, re-position the a/c and then we can all get on with our jobs....

That was a few years ago now and I haven't knowingly ignored a marshaller's instructions since.

S

[Uplinker]

Crossed batons or arms means STOP!

Supposed to be both arms or batons held crossed in front of and above the head, but I often see in the USA, marshallers will hold both their crossed batons above their head in one hand, (while they are waiting for the tug to get clear or whatever).

My guess would be that this guy was getting tired arms and so was holding his crossed batons much too low. File an ASR - not to get them into trouble, but because it is important that signals to aircraft are correct and unambiguous.

If you can see crossed arms/batons directed towards you, then STOP ! There might be something going on that you cannot see !