Narrative:

This is a report to bring to light a continuing problem with carts and ground support equipment being parked and left in areas where they are not supposed to be left on the ramp surrounding the international terminal at sfo airport. This has been a problem at sfo for several years and has been the subject of many reports by myself and other carrier pilots. It is a chronic problem and it needs to be addressed and fixed in order to alleviate delays and safety issues when taxiing to the gates at the international terminal. Since this has been a chronic problem; I sent a message; prior to top of descent; through ACARS to the sfo local station; requesting that the ground equipment surrounding gate X be moved back behind the white safety parking lines and that all carts be removed next to the blat fence on the right side of the taxiway leading in to the gate on the back side of the international terminal. As we rounded the corner toward the gate; there was 1 baggage cart still on the taxiway against the blast fence. I stopped the taxi and had a relief pilot call the ramp to have it removed. A carrier van approached and the driver got out; approached the aircraft with a headset in hand and indicated he wanted us to talk through the interphone. When he plugged in; he asked what the problem was. I explained that there was a cart parked next to the fence on the taxiway and that it was not an authorized area for parking carts and equipment. He said that he was contacted by the ramp person who said that as long as there was no more than 1 cart there that it would be ok. That is not what I said in my message to the ramp. I told him that he would need to move the cart before we would continue to taxi. He then told me to prepare to be towed in to the gate. At that point; we started the APU and got the tow-in checklist out. As we were doing this; one of the ramp workers started to move the cart out of the way; and into an area that was further ahead which was an authorized parking area for equipment (a lined-in area). After the cart was moved; and the van moved; we continued to taxi to the gate. To their credit; they had moved all of the equipment back clear of the white safety lines; and we continued to park the aircraft. After parking; 2 ramp supervisors came to the cockpit; introduced themselves; and proceeded to question us as to what the problem was and where the correct place was to park this equipment. They said that the carts didn't belong to carrier and that it wasn't their responsibility to move them out of our way; and that they were told that it was ok for them to be parked against the fence. Again; I explained to them that this was not an authorized parking place for carts or any other equipment; and in spite of what he thought; that we are responsible for making sure that this area is clear if they want us to taxi in to our gates. After some further discussion; the 2 ramp supervisors said that they now understood that this was a safety issue; and that they further understood that the only place that the carts can be left was in the designated areas within the painted white lined areas. They said that they needed to get the city involved in order to get the company who owns the carts to quit leaving them in the area adjacent to the fence on the taxiway. Also; as a note; I am sure the ramp knows that this is an issue and that the carts are not supposed to be there; since they now pull the aircraft past this area after pushback as was the case when we left from gate X on nov/xa/08. There were numerous carts parked along the fence at that time. On a previous flight; I had told them to pull us past this area; as I would not be able to taxi if the carts were not moved. It now seems to be SOP for them to do this when there are carts left there.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: B747 Captain laments the continuing problem of ground equipment being parked inside the safety zone at the SFO International terminal.

Narrative: This is a report to bring to light a continuing problem with carts and ground support equipment being parked and left in areas where they are not supposed to be left on the ramp surrounding the International Terminal at SFO airport. This has been a problem at SFO for several years and has been the subject of many reports by myself and other carrier pilots. It is a chronic problem and it needs to be addressed and fixed in order to alleviate delays and safety issues when taxiing to the gates at the International Terminal. Since this has been a chronic problem; I sent a message; prior to top of descent; through ACARS to the SFO local station; requesting that the ground equipment surrounding Gate X be moved back behind the white safety parking lines and that all carts be removed next to the blat fence on the right side of the taxiway leading in to the gate on the back side of the International Terminal. As we rounded the corner toward the gate; there was 1 baggage cart still on the taxiway against the blast fence. I stopped the taxi and had a relief pilot call the ramp to have it removed. A carrier van approached and the driver got out; approached the aircraft with a headset in hand and indicated he wanted us to talk through the interphone. When he plugged in; he asked what the problem was. I explained that there was a cart parked next to the fence on the taxiway and that it was not an authorized area for parking carts and equipment. He said that he was contacted by the ramp person who said that as long as there was no more than 1 cart there that it would be OK. That is not what I said in my message to the Ramp. I told him that he would need to move the cart before we would continue to taxi. He then told me to prepare to be towed in to the gate. At that point; we started the APU and got the Tow-in checklist out. As we were doing this; one of the ramp workers started to move the cart out of the way; and into an area that was further ahead which was an authorized parking area for equipment (a lined-in area). After the cart was moved; and the van moved; we continued to taxi to the gate. To their credit; they had moved all of the equipment back clear of the white safety lines; and we continued to park the aircraft. After parking; 2 Ramp Supervisors came to the cockpit; introduced themselves; and proceeded to question us as to what the problem was and where the correct place was to park this equipment. They said that the carts didn't belong to carrier and that it wasn't their responsibility to move them out of our way; and that they were told that it was OK for them to be parked against the fence. Again; I explained to them that this was not an authorized parking place for carts or any other equipment; and in spite of what he thought; that we ARE responsible for making sure that this area is clear if they want us to taxi in to our gates. After some further discussion; the 2 Ramp Supervisors said that they now understood that this was a safety issue; and that they further understood that the only place that the carts can be left was in the designated areas within the painted white lined areas. They said that they needed to get the city involved in order to get the company who owns the carts to quit leaving them in the area adjacent to the fence on the taxiway. Also; as a note; I am sure the ramp knows that this is an issue and that the carts are not supposed to be there; since they now pull the aircraft past this area after pushback as was the case when we left from Gate X on Nov/XA/08. There were numerous carts parked along the fence at that time. On a previous flight; I had told them to pull us past this area; as I would not be able to taxi if the carts were not moved. It now seems to be SOP for them to do this when there are carts left there.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of May 2009 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.