Narrative:

We were pushed off the gate at phl and towed to the aircraft release point for start and taxi. During start-up on the release line; I was informed by my co-pilot that 'an aircraft has been cleared into their gate.' I looked up to see what gates were available for parking and noticed a gate ahead to my right with a ground crew standing by to park an inbound flight; so I had no worry about any conflict or safety concern. As I was about to release the ground crew; I saw the inbound aircraft pass by the gate I was expecting them to park at and head down for one on our left; one I had not noticed ready to receive a plane; though I'm not sure which one it was. Had I known how close the inbound aircraft had to taxi to us to park on the assigned gate; I could have; and would have had our wing walkers assist to verify the safety margins from his wingtip to our company and; more importantly; our ground crew! When they were cleared to disconnect; I added; 'watch over your shoulder; and be careful because that inbound aircraft is getting way too close!' they were unable to move away from our aircraft due to the proximity of the moving aircraft and stayed on the headset until plane parked. I'm not sure if ramp control typically clears aircraft to park on that gate with aircraft on the release line; but it seemed the airbus' wingtip was not more than 20-25 ft away from our canopy. More importantly; our ground crew was in a much more precarious position! The cockpit crew of the inbound plane was 'all eyes' as they maneuvered onto the gate; and were probably familiar and comfortable with it; but I was not. I cannot fault the cockpit crew. To have stopped once the turn was made; would have completely plugged the alley. Once they were cleared in; they were committed.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: B737NG Captain is concerned that aircraft inbound to the gates at PHL operate too close to ground crews dispatching other aircraft.

Narrative: We were pushed off the gate at PHL and towed to the aircraft release point for start and taxi. During start-up on the release line; I was informed by my Co-pilot that 'an aircraft has been cleared into their gate.' I looked up to see what gates were available for parking and noticed a gate ahead to my right with a ground crew standing by to park an inbound flight; so I had no worry about any conflict or safety concern. As I was about to release the ground crew; I saw the inbound aircraft pass by the gate I was expecting them to park at and head down for one on our left; one I had not noticed ready to receive a plane; though I'm not sure which one it was. Had I known how close the inbound aircraft had to taxi to us to park on the assigned gate; I could have; and would have had our wing walkers assist to verify the safety margins from his wingtip to our company and; more importantly; our ground crew! When they were cleared to disconnect; I added; 'Watch over your shoulder; and be careful because that inbound aircraft is getting way too close!' They were unable to move away from our aircraft due to the proximity of the moving aircraft and stayed on the headset until plane parked. I'm not sure if Ramp Control typically clears aircraft to park on that gate with aircraft on the release line; but it seemed the Airbus' wingtip was not more than 20-25 FT away from our canopy. More importantly; our ground crew was in a much more precarious position! The cockpit crew of the inbound plane was 'all eyes' as they maneuvered onto the gate; and were probably familiar and comfortable with it; but I was not. I cannot fault the cockpit crew. To have stopped once the turn was made; would have completely plugged the alley. Once they were cleared in; they were committed.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 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.