Narrative:

Pushback from the gate was normal. The first officer and I completed all checklists up to the 'before takeoff' and he then contacted ground to request a taxi to runway 7. The ground controller said: 'taxi to runway 7; switch over to tower when ready.' as we approached the runway we switched to tower frequency. As I was stopping the aircraft; the first officer said to me: 'are you ready?' I responded: 'yes; but there is traffic on final;' and pointed to an air carrier on final. He did not call; and we waited short of the runway 7 hold-short lines. The wind was strong that day; approximately 220 degrees at 12 knots. Normally; with this direction of wind; aircraft would presumably land on runway 25. This was not the case; as runway 7 was in use. As a result; arriving aircraft were landing long and not making the high-speed turnoff at B (taxiway bravo). Waiting for the air carrier to land; we received the clearance: 'after traffic has landed; line up and wait on runway 7. Be prepared for an immediate.' we did note that we would not have received that type of clearance in the united states as the landing aircraft was still an estimated 0.1 to 0.2 miles final. He was over/approaching the threshold; but had not yet touched down. I looked to my left to clear final approach and noticed another aircraft turning final to runway 7. There appeared to be adequate (and normal) separation available and I began to taxi into position. As our L1 door was going over the hold short lines; the tower controller stated 'air carrier X; hold present position!' the statement was rushed; with emotion; and a little unclear. I immediately and without question understood his directive. However; I was very concerned because I had noticed that the aircraft which had landed had not made the high-speed taxiway and was moving quite slowly as he exited the runway all the way down at taxiway a. I did not slam on the brakes as the main wheels crossed the hold short lines. I needed to make sure that the tower controller knew that our aircraft was past the hold short lines. I told the first officer; who was trying to process all of the information; to; 'tell him we are over the hold short line!' the first officer made a comment to tower. I do not remember exactly what it was that he said; but I think he repeated; 'hold present position.' I said aloud in the cockpit; to the first officer; to make another transmission and make sure he knows that we are over the hold-short lines. Since I was not comfortable with the response from the first officer and especially the controller's handling of traffic; I decided to not stop the aircraft half on the runway and half on taxiway alpha. I was concerned that the tower controller; if I had immediately slammed on the brakes and stopped the aircraft over the hold-short lines; would give landing clearance to the aircraft on final. With all of this in mind; I continued to slowly taxi the aircraft into position. At this point the only option was for the tower to send the landing aircraft around. I continued my taxi to make sure that this happened. I was very concerned about a collision and knew that if I was fully on the runway the pilots would not land on us. In fact; as I was almost fully on the runway they transmitted: 'air carrier Y is on short final!' the tower; at this point; directed them to go around. Holding in position; I felt the need to make a statement. I did this more to have my thoughts recorded and also for everyone else to understand the situation better. I said: 'for the record; we received the command to hold present position after our aircraft was already over the hold short line and after receiving the directive to line up and wait.' we shortly thereafter received the clearance to takeoff. This event had nothing to do with a communication; language; or phraseology difference(s). The first officer had extensive international experience and I am fully knowledgeable about international operations. The reason for our event was the controller's haste to expedite arriving and departing traffic without taking into consideration the longer time needed for aircraft to slow and exit the runway; given the prevailing southwesterly winds. Arrivals and departures that day should have (in my opinion) been using runway 25; not 7. I suggest that when the winds favor a particular runway that runway be used. I assume that there is a lot of pressure put on the airport; for noise and economic reasons to use the 'preferred' runway 7.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: An air carrier Captain purposely chose to continue taxiing onto the active runway after he received a clearance to hold in position after already crossing the runway hold short lines. A landing aircraft was directed to go around.

Narrative: Pushback from the gate was normal. The First Officer and I completed all checklists up to the 'Before Takeoff' and he then contacted Ground to request a taxi to Runway 7. The Ground Controller said: 'taxi to Runway 7; switch over to Tower when ready.' As we approached the runway we switched to Tower frequency. As I was stopping the aircraft; the First Officer said to me: 'Are you ready?' I responded: 'Yes; but there is traffic on final;' and pointed to an air carrier on final. He did not call; and we waited short of the Runway 7 Hold-Short lines. The wind was strong that day; approximately 220 degrees at 12 knots. Normally; with this direction of wind; aircraft would presumably land on Runway 25. This was not the case; as Runway 7 was in use. As a result; arriving aircraft were landing long and not making the high-speed turnoff at B (Taxiway BRAVO). Waiting for the Air Carrier to land; we received the clearance: 'After traffic has landed; line up and wait on Runway 7. Be prepared for an immediate.' We did note that we would not have received that type of clearance in the United States as the landing aircraft was still an estimated 0.1 to 0.2 miles final. He was over/approaching the threshold; but had not yet touched down. I looked to my left to clear final approach and noticed another aircraft turning final to Runway 7. There appeared to be adequate (and normal) separation available and I began to taxi into position. As our L1 door was going over the hold short lines; the Tower Controller stated 'Air Carrier X; Hold present position!' The statement was rushed; with emotion; and a little unclear. I immediately and without question understood his directive. However; I was VERY CONCERNED because I had noticed that the aircraft which had landed had not made the high-speed taxiway and was moving quite slowly as he exited the runway all the way down at Taxiway A. I did NOT slam on the brakes as the main wheels crossed the hold short lines. I needed to make sure that the Tower Controller knew that our aircraft was past the hold short lines. I told the First Officer; who was trying to process all of the information; to; 'Tell him we are over the hold short line!' The First Officer made a comment to Tower. I do not remember exactly what it was that he said; but I think he repeated; 'Hold present position.' I said aloud in the cockpit; to the First Officer; to make another transmission and make sure he knows that we are over the hold-short lines. Since I was not comfortable with the response from the First Officer and especially the Controller's handling of traffic; I decided to not stop the aircraft half on the runway and half on Taxiway ALPHA. I was concerned that the Tower Controller; if I had immediately slammed on the brakes and stopped the aircraft over the hold-short lines; would give landing clearance to the aircraft on final. With all of this in mind; I continued to slowly taxi the aircraft into position. At this point the only option was for the Tower to send the landing aircraft around. I continued my taxi to make sure that this happened. I was very concerned about a collision and knew that if I was fully on the runway the pilots would not land on us. In fact; as I was almost fully on the runway they transmitted: 'Air Carrier Y is on short final!' The Tower; at this point; directed them to go around. Holding in position; I felt the need to make a statement. I did this more to have my thoughts recorded and also for everyone else to understand the situation better. I said: 'for the record; we received the command to hold present position after our aircraft was already over the hold short line and after receiving the directive to line up and wait.' We shortly thereafter received the clearance to takeoff. This event had nothing to do with a communication; language; or phraseology difference(s). The First Officer had extensive international experience and I am fully knowledgeable about international operations. The reason for our event was the Controller's haste to expedite arriving and departing traffic without taking into consideration the longer time needed for aircraft to slow and exit the runway; given the prevailing southwesterly winds. Arrivals and departures that day should have (in my opinion) been using Runway 25; not 7. I suggest that when the winds favor a particular runway that runway be used. I assume that there is a lot of pressure put on the airport; for noise and economic reasons to use the 'preferred' Runway 7.

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.