Narrative:

We were on our way into the alley; getting ready to start the tight right turn to the spot when the first officer attempted to start the APU. At that point; we lost both ecus; the beta warning horn was cycling on and off and the props were in the prohibited range. I stopped; set the brake; feathered both props and attempted to reset the ecus. That being unsuccessful; I was obviously unable to taxi further. I consulted with maintenance control; and we agreed to try a start with a gpu after resetting the beta lockout circuit breaker. I left the aircraft to reset the breaker and inspect the hell hole area and dc contactor box for anything out of the ordinary. As I was attempting to perform my duties I was approached by two very irate air carrier X rampers who informed me that I had to move my airplane immediately. I informed them we had a potentially serious mechanical issue and that I had to address it before attempting another start. They became aggressive and very upset; continuing to interrupt my duties. I told them that they could worry about their airplanes and I would worry about mine and that I would move as soon as it was both possible and safe. We went ahead a deplaned the passengers from where we were; as it was only a short distance more to the terminal and without an APU it would have been rather uncomfortable inside the aircraft. At some point during this time an air carrier X aircraft taxied past my aircraft; between me and the terminal and into his gate. I thought that was curious since the space is very limited; but at the time I didn't give it much thought since I had my hands full with passengers; irate air carrier X rampers and maintenance control. Once I got the circuit breaker reset and was satisfied we were ready to start motors; I got back in the airplane and shut the door. At that point; another air carrier X aircraft taxied past us from his gate enroute to the runway; his right wing passing well underneath our right wing between us and the terminal. He had one wing walker; an air carrier X employee; between him and the terminal. There was no wing walker on the side of our airplane; and from the cockpit the air carrier X aircraft appeared to pass beneath our wing by a very significant margin. At no point did anyone inform us that this was their plan; or I definitely would have refused such a plan as being absolutely outrageous. It was an extremely tight squeeze; and in my judgment the air carrier X aircraft's actions were unnecessary; unsafe and exhibited very poor airmanship. Had we been deplaning passengers or if someone had walked around our tail at the wrong moment the results could have been disastrous. It is worth noting the total time we spent in the middle of the alley was about 12 minutes. Not long at all; I think. We observed the event visually. This event occurred simply because the air carrier X staff refused to give us time to ensure the aircraft was ready to move. They only had to wait about 12 minutes. In addition; it is very poor judgment (in my view) to taxi between an aircraft and it's gate with the wings overlapping by a very significant margin.patience and training. When aircraft is having a mechanical issue and in the way; you wait for the captain to work it out. The ramp had arranged to borrow air carrier Y's dash 8 tow bar; so even if we had been unable to start the engines we would have been moved out of the way in very short order. Additionally; our air carrier ramp probably might have had the opportunity to step in and stop this unsafe operation. One of our rampers said he watched the first inbound air carrier X aircraft inbound and thought that it was ok; but again; I see no way that we didn't overlap wingtips by a significant margin even on that first event (that I was unable to directly observe). At any rate; I was kept completely out of the information loop about non-standard and unsafe operations occurring in the immediate vicinity of my aircraft.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Dash 8 Captain reports electrical failure during taxi into alleyway and his decision to deplane the passengers as the aircraft is close to the normal terminal entrance. The other alleyway tenant; using light twins; continued to taxi in and out in close proximity and with overlapping wings.

Narrative: We were on our way into the alley; getting ready to start the tight right turn to the spot when the First Officer attempted to start the APU. At that point; we lost both ECUs; the beta warning horn was cycling on and off and the props were in the prohibited range. I stopped; set the brake; feathered both props and attempted to reset the ECUs. That being unsuccessful; I was obviously unable to taxi further. I consulted with Maintenance Control; and we agreed to try a start with a GPU after resetting the beta lockout circuit breaker. I left the aircraft to reset the breaker and inspect the hell hole area and DC contactor box for anything out of the ordinary. As I was attempting to perform my duties I was approached by two very irate Air Carrier X Rampers who informed me that I had to move my airplane immediately. I informed them we had a potentially serious mechanical issue and that I had to address it before attempting another start. They became aggressive and very upset; continuing to interrupt my duties. I told them that they could worry about their airplanes and I would worry about mine and that I would move as soon as it was both possible and safe. We went ahead a deplaned the passengers from where we were; as it was only a short distance more to the terminal and without an APU it would have been rather uncomfortable inside the aircraft. At some point during this time an Air Carrier X Aircraft taxied past my aircraft; between me and the terminal and into his gate. I thought that was curious since the space is very limited; but at the time I didn't give it much thought since I had my hands full with passengers; irate Air Carrier X Rampers and Maintenance Control. Once I got the circuit breaker reset and was satisfied we were ready to start motors; I got back in the airplane and shut the door. At that point; another Air Carrier X aircraft taxied past us from his gate enroute to the runway; his right wing passing well underneath our right wing between us and the terminal. He had one wing walker; an Air Carrier X Employee; between him and the terminal. There was no wing walker on the side of our airplane; and from the cockpit the Air Carrier X Aircraft appeared to pass beneath our wing by a very significant margin. At no point did anyone inform us that this was their plan; or I definitely would have refused such a plan as being absolutely outrageous. It was an extremely tight squeeze; and in my judgment the Air Carrier X Aircraft's actions were unnecessary; unsafe and exhibited very poor airmanship. Had we been deplaning passengers or if someone had walked around our tail at the wrong moment the results could have been disastrous. It is worth noting the total time we spent in the middle of the alley was about 12 minutes. Not long at all; I think. We observed the event visually. This event occurred simply because the Air Carrier X staff refused to give us time to ensure the aircraft was ready to move. They only had to wait about 12 minutes. In addition; it is very poor judgment (in my view) to taxi between an aircraft and it's gate with the wings overlapping by a very significant margin.Patience and training. When aircraft is having a mechanical issue and in the way; you wait for the captain to work it out. The ramp had arranged to borrow Air Carrier Y's Dash 8 tow bar; so even if we had been unable to start the engines we would have been moved out of the way in very short order. Additionally; our Air Carrier Ramp probably might have had the opportunity to step in and stop this unsafe operation. One of our Rampers said he watched the first inbound Air Carrier X Aircraft inbound and thought that it was ok; but again; I see no way that we didn't overlap wingtips by a significant margin even on that first event (that I was unable to directly observe). At any rate; I was kept completely out of the information loop about non-standard and unsafe operations occurring in the immediate vicinity of my aircraft.

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.