Narrative:

On honie arrival to atl; past tiroe inbound; given direct routing to tizzy on atl ILS/9R. Engaged lateral nav direct to tizzy. Given descent down to 4;000. Between 15-20 NM from runway 9R; I reported to ATC that I had traffic in sight at my 12:00 (five NM 1;000 ft lower) and field in sight. ATC responded that my traffic (an airbus) was at my 2:00 position. We observed and concurred on this traffic. ATC responded with 'follow that traffic - cleared for visual approach runway 9R.' with our distance being approximately ten miles from tizzy; and the airbus being what appeared to be well inside us (they appeared to be on a downwind for runway 9R turning base). We continued our descent to 4;000 ft at 210 KIAS - clean. I then redirected my attention to the traffic that had previously been at my 12:00 position to determine where they fit into this approach. To my surprise; the airbus which I had expected to be turning base and then final (on a heading anywhere from 360 to 080 degrees at least five miles away) was actually passing under our nose (on a heading of somewhere between 270 and 330 degrees) with TCAS yellow then red including RA symbology and aural alert. I noticed a vertical distance of -7 next to the TCAS target and immediately applied full power (not through the gate) and turned hard right as I could see the traffic passing right to left in the lower corner of the windscreen; as the first officer simultaneously pulled back on the yoke. I remember a vertical distance of -4 next to the TCAS target before control/power inputs caused us to rapidly separate from the airbus' altitude. We climbed on a turning northeast heading up to 5;600 ft before arresting the climb. Told ATC of RA and requested heading/altitude instructions. Given left turn back to 360 degrees and descent back to 4;000 ft. As we were now out of position to continue towards runway 9R; we were given vectors to join visual approach to runway 8L. Continued to an uneventful landing and contacted ATC upon arrival at the gate in atl. No matter how many times I've done this; extreme vigilance must be exercised to keep track of all traffic. Especially in the terminal environment and assumptions about expected outcomes must not be allowed to distract from what is actually happening.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A B717 flight crew experienced a likely NMAC with an Airbus when there was apparent confusion regarding traffic identification from approach control.

Narrative: On Honie Arrival to ATL; past TIROE inbound; given direct routing to TIZZY on ATL ILS/9R. Engaged Lateral Nav direct to TIZZY. Given descent down to 4;000. Between 15-20 NM from Runway 9R; I reported to ATC that I had traffic in sight at my 12:00 (five NM 1;000 FT lower) and field in sight. ATC responded that my traffic (an Airbus) was at my 2:00 position. We observed and concurred on this traffic. ATC responded with 'follow that traffic - cleared for visual approach Runway 9R.' With our distance being approximately ten miles from TIZZY; and the Airbus being what appeared to be well inside us (they appeared to be on a downwind for Runway 9R turning base). We continued our descent to 4;000 FT at 210 KIAS - clean. I then redirected my attention to the traffic that had previously been at my 12:00 position to determine where they fit into this approach. To my surprise; the Airbus which I had expected to be turning base and then final (on a heading anywhere from 360 to 080 degrees at least five miles away) was actually passing under our nose (on a heading of somewhere between 270 and 330 degrees) with TCAS yellow then red including RA symbology and aural alert. I noticed a vertical distance of -7 next to the TCAS target and immediately applied full power (not through the gate) and turned hard right as I could see the traffic passing right to left in the lower corner of the windscreen; as the First Officer simultaneously pulled back on the yoke. I remember a vertical distance of -4 next to the TCAS target before control/power inputs caused us to rapidly separate from the Airbus' altitude. We climbed on a turning northeast heading up to 5;600 FT before arresting the climb. Told ATC of RA and requested heading/altitude instructions. Given left turn back to 360 degrees and descent back to 4;000 FT. As we were now out of position to continue towards Runway 9R; we were given vectors to join visual approach to Runway 8L. Continued to an uneventful landing and contacted ATC upon arrival at the gate in ATL. No matter how many times I've done this; extreme vigilance must be exercised to keep track of all traffic. Especially in the terminal environment and assumptions about expected outcomes must not be allowed to distract from what is actually happening.

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.