A B737 flight crew leaving their gate stopped abruptly to avoid a collision with another aircraft; w...

Narrative:

After pushback from our gate; we started engines and were ready to taxi. ATC cleared us to taxi via Z; G; and Y. As we started to taxi; the first officer and I cleared our respective sides and began to taxi. We were on Z and; as we started to approach G; we cleared left and right again. No other aircraft was seen and no information regarding any other traffic was given by ATC. We started our turn onto G to join taxiway Y and; as we started to turn; the first officer saw another aircraft approaching on Y with a high closure rate and he said; 'stop. Stop.' I could not see what he was seeing as that area is blind from my seat. I quickly and firmly applied the brakes and brought the aircraft to a stop. At this time; the other aircraft called ground and asked if they should give way to us and stopped as well. The controller was confused and I have serious doubts that he even saw the conflict. At this time; I was contacted by the cabin and informed that a flight attendant had fallen in the cabin. We notified ATC that we were stopped and were not moving so we could check on the crew in the cabin. The other aircraft continued to their gate. Our flight crew informed me that the 'a' flight attendant had fallen; but was ok and the cabin was ok. We taxied out to 30 and I asked ATC what had happened with the taxi clearance. He admitted that we had not done anything wrong; the mistake was his; and that he had mistaken the distance between the aircraft. The ground controller had issued the other carrier a clearance to taxi to their gate after clearing the runway and also issued us a clearance to taxi for departure. He had misjudged the time it would take to get to the same space on the taxiway that he cleared us both to be on. The first officer did a good job staying heads-up; spotting the conflict; and then made good; quick; and assertive communication.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A B737 flight crew leaving their gate stopped abruptly to avoid a collision with another aircraft; which had been cleared to its gate and injured a Flight Attendant. The Controller misjudged the aircraft's taxi speed.

Narrative: After pushback from our gate; we started engines and were ready to taxi. ATC cleared us to taxi via Z; G; and Y. As we started to taxi; the First Officer and I cleared our respective sides and began to taxi. We were on Z and; as we started to approach G; we cleared left and right again. No other aircraft was seen and no information regarding any other traffic was given by ATC. We started our turn onto G to join Taxiway Y and; as we started to turn; the First Officer saw another aircraft approaching on Y with a high closure rate and he said; 'Stop. Stop.' I could not see what he was seeing as that area is blind from my seat. I quickly and firmly applied the brakes and brought the aircraft to a stop. At this time; the other aircraft called Ground and asked if they should give way to us and stopped as well. The Controller was confused and I have serious doubts that he even saw the conflict. At this time; I was contacted by the cabin and informed that a Flight Attendant had fallen in the cabin. We notified ATC that we were stopped and were not moving so we could check on the Crew in the cabin. The other aircraft continued to their gate. Our Flight crew informed me that the 'A' Flight Attendant had fallen; but was OK and the cabin was OK. We taxied out to 30 and I asked ATC what had happened with the taxi clearance. He admitted that we had not done anything wrong; the mistake was his; and that he had mistaken the distance between the aircraft. The Ground Controller had issued the other carrier a clearance to taxi to their gate after clearing the runway and also issued us a clearance to taxi for departure. He had misjudged the time it would take to get to the same space on the taxiway that he cleared us both to be on. The First Officer did a good job staying heads-up; spotting the conflict; and then made good; quick; and assertive communication.

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	895058
Time
Date	201006
Local Time Of Day	0601-1200
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.Airport
State Reference	US
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	B737-700
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Taxi
Flight Plan	IFR
Aircraft 2
Make Model Name	Commercial Fixed Wing
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Taxi
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Function	Captain
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 199
Person 2
Function	First Officer
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 222
Events
Anomaly	ATC Issue All Types Conflict Ground Conflict Less Severe Flight Deck / Cabin / Aircraft Event Illness

A B737 flight crew leaving their gate stopped abruptly to avoid a collision with another aircraft; which had been cleared to its gate and injured a flight attendant. The controller misjudged the aircraft's taxi speed.