Narrative:

As an airbus passed the threshold for landing on runway 34; we were instructed to line-up and wait runway 34. [We] responded to tower 'line up and wait'. I looked to my left to clear and declared 'final clear'. As I said this; I noticed the lights of an aircraft lining up for final. I then vocalized to [the first officer] that actually traffic was on an 8 mile final. I then expanded the scale of my nd to see the traffic on final at 1;800 feet - so probably 6 miles was more accurate. We did hear a clearance for [that aircraft] to land; I believe it came just after [the airbus] landed; but I am not 100% sure when it was made. As we turned to line-up for departure; I observed the airbus clearing runway 34 to the right. Expecting a quick take-off clearance; I began to run up the engines. Nothing came from tower. I asked [the first officer] to confirm we were only cleared to line up and wait. He agreed that was our clearance. After a few more moments of silence from tower; I asked [the first officer] to advise the tower that we were ready for departure; which he promptly did. Again; we had more silence from the tower. After a few more moments; I made the call to the tower that we were ready for takeoff. More silence from the tower. 2-3 seconds after this I broadcast '[callsign] aircraft is still on the runway!'. At the same time I did this; I expanded the scale of my nd to see that the [landing] aircraft appeared as an amber target just behind us at 300 feet and climbing. A few moments after this; tower came on the frequency and instructed [the landing aircraft] to go around (which they were already doing). My belief is that [the landing aircraft] initiated their own go-around moments before I broadcast our position; but [referencing] the TCAS readout on my nd; they may have gotten as low as 200 feet AGL.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: B737NG Captain reported being left in position awaiting takeoff clearance as another aircraft lined up for landing on the same runway was descending before initiating a go-around.

Narrative: As an Airbus passed the threshold for landing on Runway 34; we were instructed to line-up and wait Runway 34. [We] responded to Tower 'line up and wait'. I looked to my left to clear and declared 'Final clear'. As I said this; I noticed the lights of an aircraft lining up for final. I then vocalized to [the First Officer] that actually traffic was on an 8 mile final. I then expanded the scale of my ND to see the traffic on final at 1;800 feet - so probably 6 miles was more accurate. We did hear a clearance for [that aircraft] to land; I believe it came just after [the Airbus] landed; but I am not 100% sure when it was made. As we turned to line-up for departure; I observed the Airbus clearing Runway 34 to the right. Expecting a quick take-off clearance; I began to run up the engines. Nothing came from Tower. I asked [the First Officer] to confirm we were only cleared to Line Up and Wait. He agreed that was our clearance. After a few more moments of silence from Tower; I asked [the First Officer] to advise the Tower that we were ready for departure; which he promptly did. Again; we had more silence from the Tower. After a few more moments; I made the call to the Tower that we were ready for takeoff. More silence from the Tower. 2-3 seconds after this I broadcast '[Callsign] aircraft is still on the runway!'. At the same time I did this; I expanded the scale of my ND to see that the [landing] aircraft appeared as an Amber target just behind us at 300 feet and climbing. A few moments after this; Tower came on the frequency and instructed [the landing aircraft] to go around (which they were already doing). My belief is that [the landing aircraft] initiated their own go-around moments before I broadcast our position; but [referencing] the TCAS readout on my ND; they may have gotten as low as 200 feet AGL.

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.