Near midair collision on ground. Critical ground conflict.

Attributes
ACN	188357
Time
Date	199109
Day	Mon
Local Time Of Day	0601 To 1200
Place
Locale Reference	airport : den
State Reference	CO
Altitude	agl bound lower : 0 agl bound upper : 0
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Operator	common carrier : air carrier
Make Model Name	Heavy Transport, Low Wing, 4 Turbojet Eng
Navigation In Use	Other
Flight Phase	ground other : taxi
Flight Plan	IFR
Aircraft 2
Operator	common carrier : air carrier
Make Model Name	Medium Large Transport, Low Wing, 2 Turbojet Eng
Flight Phase	landing other
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Affiliation	company : air carrier
Function	flight crew : captain oversight : pic
Qualification	pilot : atp
Experience	flight time last 90 days : 150 flight time total : 13000 flight time type : 2400
ASRS Report	188357
Person 2
Affiliation	company : air carrier
Function	flight crew : first officer
Qualification	pilot : atp
Events
Anomaly	conflict : nmac conflict : ground critical incursion : runway non adherence : clearance
Independent Detector	other flight crewa
Resolutory Action	none taken : detected after the fact
Consequence	Other
Miss Distance	horizontal : 15 vertical : 0
Supplementary
Primary Problem	Flight Crew Human Performance
Air Traffic Incident	Pilot Deviation

Narrative:

Flying heavy transport frt received taxi clearance to 'taxi to runway 35L give way to landing aircraft'. While taxiing to runway 35L on lima taxiway ground control asked that we hold short of next taxiway. We were starting our last 2 engines as we taxied. We started to slow not realizing that just off our left wing was a high speed taxiway. We thought the controller was referring to the next taxiway not the taxiway directly to our left. At this time another air carrier medium large transport came off the high speed with both engines in reverse. His right wing appeared to either go under our wing tip or just missed by several ft. No reference was made of the incident on the radio. I believe that there were several mistakes made in this incident. 1) the controller issued a very ambiguous clearance seeing that a taxiing aircraft can't see an aircraft landing on runway 17R. 2) controller should have stated which taxiway to hold short of. 3) medium large transport was behind to left of heavy transport. He should have been able to avoid this conflict and a very dangerous situation.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: NMAC ON GND. CRITICAL GND CONFLICT.

Narrative: FLYING HVT FRT RECEIVED TAXI CLRNC TO 'TAXI TO RWY 35L GIVE WAY TO LNDG ACFT'. WHILE TAXIING TO RWY 35L ON LIMA TAXIWAY GND CTL ASKED THAT WE HOLD SHORT OF NEXT TAXIWAY. WE WERE STARTING OUR LAST 2 ENGS AS WE TAXIED. WE STARTED TO SLOW NOT REALIZING THAT JUST OFF OUR L WING WAS A HIGH SPD TAXIWAY. WE THOUGHT THE CTLR WAS REFERRING TO THE NEXT TAXIWAY NOT THE TAXIWAY DIRECTLY TO OUR L. AT THIS TIME ANOTHER ACR MLG CAME OFF THE HIGH SPD WITH BOTH ENGS IN REVERSE. HIS R WING APPEARED TO EITHER GO UNDER OUR WING TIP OR JUST MISSED BY SEVERAL FT. NO REF WAS MADE OF THE INCIDENT ON THE RADIO. I BELIEVE THAT THERE WERE SEVERAL MISTAKES MADE IN THIS INCIDENT. 1) THE CTLR ISSUED A VERY AMBIGUOUS CLRNC SEEING THAT A TAXIING ACFT CAN'T SEE AN ACFT LNDG ON RWY 17R. 2) CTLR SHOULD HAVE STATED WHICH TAXIWAY TO HOLD SHORT OF. 3) MLG WAS BEHIND TO L OF HVT. HE SHOULD HAVE BEEN ABLE TO AVOID THIS CONFLICT AND A VERY DANGEROUS SITUATION.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2007 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.