Narrative:

I was conducting OJT on local control (local control) when my trainee instructed aircraft X to cross runway 28L at taxiway delta while aircraft Y was on a 2 mile final for that same runway. Aircraft X cleared Rwy28L and came to a stop; but was still clear of the runway as well as the hold bars; and aircraft X was un-impeded to continue forward. Aircraft Y was in the flare and about to touch down on runway 28L about 1000 feet down the runway from the approach end; when the controller in charge approached the trainee and told her to 'send aircraft Y around.' the trainee wasted no time and sent aircraft Y around. As the trainer; I thought that I had missed something and that maybe the controller in charge had seen a vehicle enter the runway somewhere. Aircraft Y was literally about to touch down on RWY28L and the reason the controller in charge gave for sending him around was that aircraft X had stopped and was in the 'safety area' of RWY28L. I believe that sending aircraft Y around at such a critical phase of flight coupled with the fact that the runway was clear by every definition of the term; led to a very unsafe situation. Perhaps additional training is needed. I'm not sure what could be done to prevent this from happening again short of training for the individual who was on controller in charge at the time. It seems that they have a different idea of what 'runway clear' means. What we don't need; is to be creating unsafe situations.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: An SFO Controller and CIC report of a go-around caused by an aircraft not exiting the runway completely in the CIC's eyes; but was clear enough in the Locals eyes to let the operation continue.

Narrative: I was conducting OJT on Local Control (LC) when my trainee instructed Aircraft X to cross runway 28L at taxiway Delta while Aircraft Y was on a 2 mile final for that same runway. Aircraft X cleared Rwy28L and came to a stop; but was still clear of the runway as well as the hold bars; and Aircraft X was un-impeded to continue forward. Aircraft Y was in the flare and about to touch down on runway 28L about 1000 feet down the runway from the approach end; when the CIC approached the trainee and told her to 'send Aircraft Y around.' The trainee wasted no time and sent Aircraft Y around. As the trainer; I thought that I had missed something and that maybe the CIC had seen a vehicle enter the runway somewhere. Aircraft Y was literally about to touch down on RWY28L and the reason the CIC gave for sending him around was that Aircraft X had stopped and was in the 'safety area' of RWY28L. I believe that sending Aircraft Y around at such a critical phase of flight coupled with the fact that the runway was clear by every definition of the term; led to a very unsafe situation. Perhaps additional training is needed. I'm not sure what could be done to prevent this from happening again short of training for the individual who was on CIC at the time. It seems that they have a different idea of what 'runway clear' means. What we don't need; is to be creating unsafe situations.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site 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.