MD-82
Maintenance Airframe; Maintenance Powerplant
Communication Breakdown; Time Pressure; Workload
Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical; Ground Event / Encounter Other / Unknown
Company Policy; Staffing; Human Factors
Ramp was closed due to weather. The ramp tower at ZZZ called us and wanted to know what the delay was. I told the Agent; the ramp is closed due to weather. About 10 minutes later the ramp was open; but hand signals only. We could not do a manual [engine] start without communicating with both the [flight] crew and the Mechanic on the engine without a headset. The Lead Mechanic in charge did not want to send at least three people for a Manual start; instead [we] only had two people. When you're getting hand signals from the [flight] crew you can't see the Aircraft Maintenance Technician (AMT) on the engine to signal [a] Start; Stop or Abort. And he; the AMT on the engine; can't see anyone in the front of the aircraft getting signals from the FLT crew; and the flight crew has no idea on what hand signals to use also; because there is no set of guidelines for this. [Contributors were] a lack of safety concerns for employees and the aircraft.Having a system in place and a policy on doing a Manual start with and without a headset to communicate with the flight deck and the AMT manually starting the engine. If you're using hand signals; how many people should we use and where are they positioned at and can you even use hand signals to do a Manual start? Also; how to address an emergency during a manual start with just hand signals. Then put this in a training bulletin.
A Line Aircraft Maintenance Technician (AMT) describes his frustration and safety concerns surrounding a manual engine start procedure on the ramp with limited personnel and having to use hand signals without a standard set of guidelines for everyone to follow. Headsets could not be connected to the MD-82 aircraft due to weather conditions.