Air Carrier Flight Crew reported ATC miscommunication regarding taxi instructions.
Synopsis
Air Carrier Flight Crew reported ATC miscommunication regarding taxi instructions.
Narrative
Cleared to line up and wait Runway XXR; intersection Whiskey. We did so. As we slowed to a stop in position; we heard tower tell a Company1 arrival aircraft to go around due to spacing on Runway XXL. The Company1 responded with 'going around and [requesting priority handling] due to low fuel.We held in position on Runway XXR for approximately six to eight minutes. We then received a radio call from a Tower Controller X telling us 'Turn left on Yankee; left on Papa; and hold short Whiskey for Runway XXR without delay'. This request from Tower said nothing about [a priority] aircraft on short final behind us. I believe the Controller didn't give a reason at all. I say this because of the next sentence. The FO (First Officer) tried to respond for clarification as I wasn't sure I heard the request correctly (As I thought I might have heard a call sign that was not exactly ours with that Tower request). As The FO tried to get clarification; a Tower Controller Y voice came on talking to another aircraft and was blocking my FO's ability to transmit his response to the Controller X. The Controller X then came on again (after the Controller Y finished talking with the other aircraft) and said something like 'Company Aircraft X; did you copy'. The FO then said; 'yes; Yankee; Papa; hold short Whiskey for Runway XXR' What we didn't realize through all of this was that Yankee was on our immediate left. I believe we were even passed the Yankee sign that represented the exit. As we advanced our aircrafts thrust levers forward and the aircraft started moving forward (I was looking on the airport diagram to verify where Yankee exit was) it is my belief that we would have been turning more than 90 degrees to the left to exit Yankee. Either way; the Mike exit was very close up on the left. Then the Controller Y came back on and said something like 'Company Aircraft X; you passed Yankee; turn left on Mike immediately without delay as we have the [priority] aircraft coming in'. The FO responded back that we were taking Mike off and that we were trying to confirm and clarify the instructions but couldn't because both Tower Controllers were having back to back transmissions with no chance for him to respond to the initial instructions from the Controller X.We exited Mike; just started turning left on Papa... and looked to our left to see the Company1 aircraft approximately over the threshold. Neither the FO or I had heard transmissions for the [priority] Company1 for a clearance to land on Runway XXR or we would have been clarifying why we were sitting parked on the runway with Company1 on short final. It is my belief that Tower may have forgotten that we were holding on Runway XXR until the last minute and realized they had to get us off quick as they could not afford to send [a priority] 'low fuel' aircraft on a second go around. We also had our logo lights on MEL; so our aircraft is a little darker than normal.We rolled up to Whiskey and slowed the aircraft down to a stop. The Controller Y then requested we position and hold on Runway XXR again via the Whiskey intersection. The FO responded back that we could not because there were approximately eight [response] vehicles (some stopped and some moving slowly around us on both sides) prohibiting that request as they were making their way to the [priority] aircraft. The Controller Y then came back and said that we could position and hold; when able.During this whole scenario; it seemed like the Controller Y might have been backing up the Controller X. They were both talking and making transmission calls to the same and different aircraft. We did not know Company1 was on short final behind us (lined up for Runway XXR) while we were sitting still waiting for a clearance to take off. Most of all; and I hope this was the case because I would be even more concerned otherwise; I believe they had forgotten that we were sitting there and in the way for the [priority] Company1 aircraft to land when they gave us our first instructions to leave the runway. It seemed like there were plenty of opportunities to clear us for takeoff during the six to eight minutes of sitting there and certainly before Company1 was going to land where we were sitting.We assumed that ZZZ Tower held us in position on the runway so long because they were dealing with the [priority] aircraft and temporarily stopped departures to work that aircraft back into sequence. We possibly could have given Tower and ourselves more time to move us had we inquired with Tower why we were holding on the runway for so long instead of assuming as it appears that we may have been forgotten about.
Second reporter narrative
Cleared to line up and wait Runway XXR; intersection Whiskey. We did so. As we slowed to a stop in position; we heard Tower tell a Company1 arrival aircraft to go around due to spacing. The Company1 responded with 'going around and [requesting priority handling] due to low fuel.' We believe the Company1 [priority] aircraft was landing Runway XXL the first approach.We positioned and held on Runway XXR for approximately six to eight minutes. We then received a radio call from a Tower Controller X telling us 'Turn left on Yankee; left on Papa; and hold short Whiskey for Runway XXR without delay'. This request from Tower said nothing about [a priority] aircraft on short final behind us. I believe the Controller didn't give a reason at all. I say this because of the next sentence. I was trying to respond for clarification as the Captain wasn't sure he heard the request correctly (The Captain thought he might have heard a call sign that was not exactly ours with that Tower request) As I tried to get clarification; a Tower Controller Y voice came on talking to another aircraft and was blocking my ability to transmit my response to the Controller X. The Controller X then came on again (after the Controller Y finished talking with the other aircraft) and said something like 'Company Aircraft X; did you copy'. I then said; 'yes; Yankee; Papa; hold short Whiskey for Runway XXR' What we didn't realize as all of this chaos was going on is that Yankee was on our immediate left. I believe we were even past the Yankee sign that represented the exit. As we advanced our aircraft thrust levers forward and the aircraft started moving forward (I was looking on the airport diagram to verify where Yankee exit was) it is my belief that we would have been turning more than 90 degrees to the left to exit Yankee. Either way; the Mike exit was very close up on the left. Then the Controller Y came back on and said something like 'Company Aircraft X; you passed Yankee; turn left on Mike immediately without delay as we have the [priority] aircraft coming in'. I responded back that we were taking Mike off and that we were trying to confirm and clarify the instructions but couldn't because both Tower Controllers were having back to back transmissions with no chance for me to respond to the initial instructions from the Controller X.We exited Mike; just started turning left on Papa... and looked to our left to see the Company1 aircraft approximately over the threshold. Neither the Captain nor I had heard transmissions for the [priority] Company1 for a clearance to land on Runway XXR or we would have been clarifying why we were sitting parked on the runway with Company1 on short final. It is my belief that Tower may have forgotten that we were positioned and holding on Runway XXR until the last minute and realized they had to get us off quick as they could not afford to send [a priority] 'low fuel' aircraft on a second go around. We also had our logo lights on MEL; so our aircraft is a little darker than normal.We rolled up to Whiskey and slowed the aircraft down to a stop. The Controller Y then requested we position and hold on Runway XXR again via the Whiskey intersection. I responded back that we could not because there were approximately eight [response] vehicles (some stopped and some moving slowly around us on both sides) prohibiting that request. The Controller Y then came back and said that we could position and hold; when able.During this whole scenario; it seemed like the Controller Y might have been backing up the Controller X. They were both talking and making transmission calls to the same and different aircraft. They made the radio calls confusing beings they were both talking back and forth on the same frequency. We did not know Company1 was on short final behind us (lined up for Runway XXR) while we were sitting still waiting for a clearance to take off. Most of all; and I hope this was the case because I would be even more concerned otherwise; I believe they had forgotten that we were sitting there and in the way for the [priority] Company1 aircraft to land when they gave us our first instructions to leave the runway. It seemed like there were plenty of opportunities to clear us for takeoff during the six to eight minutes of sitting there and certainly before [Company1] was going to land where we were sitting.One Controller speaking; not two taking turns. In [a priority] situation - please give the aircraft that is sitting in position (with no clearance to take off) more than 60 seconds to move a 737 off of the runway especially when there was 8-10 minutes to move that sitting aircraft while the [priority] aircraft was doing [a priority] low fuel go around (from a different runway - Runway XXL I believe) Lack of communication and last minute instructions from the Tower Controllers was the root cause of this.
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Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.