Narrative:

We were on very short final to runway 28R at sfo when we noticed an aircraft on the runway. I immediately asked tower to confirm whether the runway was clear or not. He came back and said that the preceding aircraft would be airborne soon. While this was going on; another aircraft was taking off of runway 1R and intersecting our flight path. Both aircraft were clearly in conflict with our landing clearance-especially if one had aborted their takeoff since we were already so close to the runway. In other words; I highly doubt we would have been able to execute a go-around (basically an aborted landing at that point) had either one aborted their respective takeoff. The controller; when I said that that was way too close and dumb; came back with a comment to the tune of 'I've been here 26 years and know what I'm doing'. Well; I've been flying airplanes longer than that and still know I'm capable of a mistake. This controller doesn't feel he's capable of making a mistake. That's whats dangerous. Sfo tower needs to realize that they are pushing the limits of safety; especially at night when visual cues are very poor or lacking completely. I've been flying in and out of sfo my entire career; having been based there for all but one of those years (19 years total). I know the airport and traffic flow. I know what tower likes to do with spacing and I also know when it isn't safe. This was not safe for anyone involved.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Air carrier Captain reported a Tower Controller's landing and arrival sequence plan was unsafe.

Narrative: We were on very short final to Runway 28R at SFO when we noticed an aircraft on the runway. I immediately asked tower to confirm whether the runway was clear or not. He came back and said that the preceding aircraft would be airborne soon. While this was going on; another aircraft was taking off of Runway 1R and intersecting our flight path. Both aircraft were clearly in conflict with our landing clearance-especially if one had aborted their takeoff since we were already so close to the runway. In other words; I highly doubt we would have been able to execute a go-around (basically an aborted landing at that point) had either one aborted their respective takeoff. The controller; when I said that that was way too close and dumb; came back with a comment to the tune of 'I've been here 26 years and know what I'm doing'. Well; I've been flying airplanes longer than that and still know I'm capable of a mistake. This controller doesn't feel he's capable of making a mistake. THAT's WHATS DANGEROUS. SFO tower needs to realize that they are pushing the limits of safety; especially at night when visual cues are very poor or lacking completely. I've been flying in and out of SFO my entire career; having been based there for all but one of those years (19 years total). I know the airport and traffic flow. I know what tower likes to do with spacing and I also know when it isn't safe. This was not safe for anyone involved.

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.