AN ACR LGT FREIGHTER CREW LANDED OVER THE TOP OF ANOTHER ACR LGT FREIGHTER THAT WAS IN POS ON THE RWY BUT HOLDING IN APCH LIGHTS ON AN OVERRUN. USED FOR TKOF ONLY.

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OUR FLT; ACR Y; WAS CLRED TO TAXI FROM OUR COMPANY RAMP AT EWR TO RWY 4L. WE WERE INSTRUCTED TO TAXI INTO POS ON 4L AND HOLD. AS WE WERE TAXIING INTO POS ON 4L; EWR TWR INSTRUCTED ACR X THAT HE WAS CLRED TO LAND ON 4R; THAT THERE WOULD BE A DEP PRIOR TO HIS ARR. AFTER HOLDING IN POS FOR 1 1/2 TO 2 MINS; ACR X FLEW R OVER THE TOP OF US AND LANDED ON 4L. WE ASKED EWR TWR IF THEY WERE AWARE OF WHAT HAD HAPPENED. THEY SAID THAT THEY WERE AND THEY WOULD INVESTIGATE. WE SAVED OUR COCKPIT VOICE RECORDER. THIS INCIDENT TURNED INTO A FULL SCALE NTSB INVESTIGATION. HERE ARE SOME POSSIBLE CONTRIBUTING FACTORS: 1) EWR ATIS INFO; H PLUS 50Z HAD RWY 4R CLOSED. 2) EWR ATIS INFO H PLUS 1 PLUS 50Z HAD DEPS ON 4L AND ARRS ON RWY 4R. THE INCIDENT TOOK PLACE AT H PLUS 2 PLUS 28Z. THE CREW OF ACR X MAY HAVE ONLY GOTTEN INFO W AND WERE THINKING THAT 4R WAS CLOSED. 3) I HAVE NO WAY OF KNOWING WHICH RWY EWR APCH TOLD ACR X TO EXPECT OR WHAT TYPE OF APCH THEY WERE CLRED FOR OR TO WHICH RWY. 4) WE HAD OUR NAV LIGHTS; ROTATING BEACON (RED); AND THE TAXI LIGHT ILLUMINATED AS PER COMPANY DIRECTIVES AND ICAO PROCS. CORRECTIVE ACTIONS: 1) I SEE HAVING A COMMON FREQ FOR PARALLEL RWYS TO BE A POTENTIAL HAZARD. 2) HERE WE ARE; 2-3 YRS AFTER THE ACR Z DISASTER AT LAX; AND STANDARD PROCS DO NOT CALL FOR PLTS TO TURN ON LNDG AND STROBE LIGHTS UNTIL CLRED FOR TKOF. IN OTHER WORDS; ICAO PROCS CALL FOR US TO TAXI INTO POS AND HOLD AND TRY TO BE AS INCONSPICUOUS AS POSSIBLE. I DO NOT KNOW WHETHER ACR X EVER SAW US. SUPPLEMENTAL INFO FROM ACN 236987: TWR CLRED US TO TAXI INTO POS AND HOLD ON RWY 4L (4L HAS AN OVERRUN AT THE END OF THE APCH END OF THE RWY). I LOOKED OUT THE R WINDOW FOR POSSIBLE LNDG TFC ON RWY 4R. WE OBSERVED AN ACFT FLY OVER US (STILL ON THE OVERRUN) AND THEN LAND ON RWY 4L. AFTER THAT ACFT CLRED THE RWY; OUR CAPT ASKED TWR IF THEY WERE AWARE OF WHAT JUST HAPPENED. THEY ANSWERED THAT THEY WERE AND WOULD INVESTIGATE. THE COCKPIT VOICE RECORDER WAS PULLED AFTER CLBING THROUGH 10000 FT. OUR BEING IN POS ON THE OVERRUN PROBABLY CAUSED OUR ACFT LIGHTING TO BLEND IN THE APCH LIGHTING; WHILE AT THE SAME TIME; ALLOWING THE ACFT TO FLY ABOUT 100 FT ABOVE US. SUPPLEMENTAL INFO FROM ACN 237004: WE WERE CLRED VISUAL 4L CONTACT THE TWR. TWR CLRED US TO LAND ON 4L AT ABOUT 200 TO 300 FT AGL; THE FO MENTIONED A BLINKING LIGHT THAT APPEARED TO BE IN THE RWY DISPLACED THRESHOLD. JUST OVER THE THRESHOLD THE FO SAID 'IT'S AN AIRPLANE!' IT DID NOT APPEAR TO BE FULLY ON THE THRESHOLD. I ASKED THE FO TO RECONFIRM LNDG CLRNC. TWR REPLIED 'ACR X' AND DID NOT COMPLETE STATEMENT. AT THIS POINT; I WAS ALREADY IN THE FLARE; REDUCING PWR; AND I JUDGED IT PRUDENT TO LAND. ALL 3 CREW MEMBERS AGREED CLRNC TO LAND WAS FOR 4L. NONE OF US HEARD ANY XMISSION BTWN TWR AND OTHER ACFT. I WOULD STRONGLY SUGGEST ACFT ENTERING AN ACTIVE RWY PUT ALL LIGHTS ON; EVEN IF TOLD POS AND HOLD. CALLBACK CONVERSATION WITH RPTR (ACN 237005) REVEALED THE FOLLOWING INFO: THERE WAS AN NTSB HEARING A FEW DAYS AFTER THIS INCIDENT INVOLVING ONLY THIS CREW. THERE WAS A SEPARATE HEARING FOR THE CTLRS INVOLVED AND ANOTHER FOR THE OTHER CREW. RUMOR HAS IT; ACCORDING TO THE FO OF THE LNDG ACFT; THAT 3 CTLRS WERE DOWNGRADED. 1 CTLR WAS A TRAINEE WITH NO SUPVR IN THE CAB. THE RPTR HAS NOT HEARD FROM THE FAA; BUT IT IS ONLY 3 WKS SINCE THE INCIDENT. THE LNDG ACFT WAS NOT TOLD OF THE OPENING OF RWY 4R; NOR WERE THEY TOLD OF THE CHANGE IN ATIS. THIS RPTR HAS NOT HEARD THE TWR TAPE; BUT HE HAS SEEN THE TRANSCRIPT WHICH SHOWS THAT THE LNDG ACFT WAS CLRED TO LAND ON RWY 4R VICE 4L. THE TAPE SHOWS THAT THE LNDG ACFT DID NOT ACKNOWLEDGE THE CHANGE IN RWY FROM THE PREVIOUS CLRNC TO LAND ON 4L. THE ACR LINE CHKED BOTH CREWS AND FOUND THEM TO BE UP TO STANDARD. THE CREWS ARE STILL TALKING TO EACH OTHER. THE ACFT IN POS ON THE RWY HAS A PURPLE TOP PAINT JOB AGAINST A BLACK RWY. ITS POS ON THE RWY WAS IN A DISPLACED THRESHOLD AMONG A SERIES OF RWY APCH LIGHTS. THERE WAS PLENTY OF LNDG GEAR TO TAIL FIN CLRNC AS THE DISPLACED THRESHOLD IS 700 FT FROM THE END OF THE RWY. CALLBACK CONVERSATION WITH RPTR (ACN 236987) REVEALED THE FOLLOWING INFO: THE FO OF THE ACFT ON THE RWY RPTS THAT HIS CREW HAD A TELEPHONE INTERVIEW WITH AN NTSB REPRESENTATIVE AND THE OTHER CREW HAD A SEPARATE INTERVIEW. THE CAPT HAD A LINE CHK SHORTLY AFTER THIS INCIDENT. THE FO HAS NOT HEARD FROM THE FAA YET.