Air carrier on visual approach to sfo runway 28R; with traffic ahead landing 28L; was issued go arou...

Narrative:

We were cleared for the FMS runway 28R visual; maintain 180 kts to samul (marker). Norcal approach asked if we had a turbo prop in sight for the left. We had it in sight; were told to maintain visual; contact tower. Contacted tower; we were cleared to land 28R. Shortly after; tower directed us to go around; no explanation. We did the missed approach and came back around to visual 28L with no further incident. I called tower supervisor once on the ground for explanation. He told me we were not allowed to pass the turbo prop on final. I explained we were not given that clearance; and an A-320 can not stay behind a turbo prop (too heavy; too fast.) he said that it was up to norcal for that clearance; he was only cleaning up the mess.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Air carrier on visual approach to SFO Runway 28R; with traffic ahead landing 28L; was issued go around by tower because 28L traffic was passed; reporter alleging NORCAL provided no restriction on the clearance regarding passing.

Narrative: We were cleared for the FMS Runway 28R Visual; maintain 180 kts to SAMUL (Marker). NORCAL approach asked if we had a turbo prop in sight for the Left. We had it in sight; were told to maintain visual; contact tower. Contacted tower; we were cleared to land 28R. Shortly after; tower directed us to go around; no explanation. We did the missed approach and came back around to visual 28L with no further incident. I called Tower Supervisor once on the ground for explanation. He told me we were not allowed to pass the turbo prop on final. I explained we were not given that clearance; and an A-320 can not stay behind a turbo prop (too heavy; too fast.) He said that it was up to NORCAL for that clearance; he was only cleaning up the mess.

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.

Attributes
ACN	859729
Time
Date	200911
Local Time Of Day	0601-1200
Place
Locale Reference	SFO.Airport
State Reference	CA
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	A320
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Final Approach
Route In Use	Visual Approach
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Function	Captain Pilot Flying
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 200 Flight Crew Total 12000 Flight Crew Type 4500
Events
Anomaly	ATC Issue All Types Conflict Airborne Conflict Deviation - Procedural Clearance

Air carrier on visual approach to sfo runway 28R; with traffic ahead landing 28L; was issued go around by tower because 28L traffic was passed; reporter alleging norcal provided no restriction on the clearance regarding passing.