Narrative:

Air carrier X arriving at sfo and needing to taxi to the air carrier Y ramp via taxiway right, ground cleared us to 'taxi to the ramp.' having a wing span of 148 ft 6 inches, and having read the airport diagram note 'aircraft with wing spans of 140-156 ft must be under tow with wing walkers on taxiway right, east of taxiway right chkpoint,' confusion surfaced as to the location of the chkpoint and direction of tow requirement. Asking for clarification, I requested that company call sfo airport for instructions. Company called sfo operations and faxed me an airport diagram with 'east' changed to 'west' with the notation 'stated wrong, should be west.' leaving the ramp that evening, we were towed with wing walkers to the chkpoint, released to taxi west of the chkpoint. Ground informed us that it was prohibited to taxi on taxiway right or to even have the engines running. Having already been towed and taxied to the 'right/south' throat, there was no way to remedy the situation. Not wanting to argue with ground, we thanked them for the clarification and they issued further taxi instructions. Airport diagram needs to be corrected.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: FLC OF A DC8 CARGO ACFT FAILED TO HAVE THE ACFT TOWED, WITH WING WALKERS, AND ENGS NOT RUNNING, DURING TAXI ON TXWY R AT SFO. ARPT DIAGRAM DID NOT CLARIFY THE CHKPOINT IN THE NOTE REF AND INDICATED THE DIRECTION OPPOSITE TO THE SUBSEQUENT NOTATION ON ANOTHER COPY OF THE ARPT DIAGRAM.

Narrative: ACR X ARRIVING AT SFO AND NEEDING TO TAXI TO THE ACR Y RAMP VIA TXWY R, GND CLRED US TO 'TAXI TO THE RAMP.' HAVING A WING SPAN OF 148 FT 6 INCHES, AND HAVING READ THE ARPT DIAGRAM NOTE 'ACFT WITH WING SPANS OF 140-156 FT MUST BE UNDER TOW WITH WING WALKERS ON TXWY R, E OF TXWY R CHKPOINT,' CONFUSION SURFACED AS TO THE LOCATION OF THE CHKPOINT AND DIRECTION OF TOW REQUIREMENT. ASKING FOR CLARIFICATION, I REQUESTED THAT COMPANY CALL SFO ARPT FOR INSTRUCTIONS. COMPANY CALLED SFO OPS AND FAXED ME AN ARPT DIAGRAM WITH 'E' CHANGED TO 'W' WITH THE NOTATION 'STATED WRONG, SHOULD BE W.' LEAVING THE RAMP THAT EVENING, WE WERE TOWED WITH WING WALKERS TO THE CHKPOINT, RELEASED TO TAXI W OF THE CHKPOINT. GND INFORMED US THAT IT WAS PROHIBITED TO TAXI ON TXWY R OR TO EVEN HAVE THE ENGS RUNNING. HAVING ALREADY BEEN TOWED AND TAXIED TO THE 'R/S' THROAT, THERE WAS NO WAY TO REMEDY THE SIT. NOT WANTING TO ARGUE WITH GND, WE THANKED THEM FOR THE CLARIFICATION AND THEY ISSUED FURTHER TAXI INSTRUCTIONS. ARPT DIAGRAM NEEDS TO BE CORRECTED.

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.