MD80 CREW ENTERED AN INTL GATE WITH SELF PARKING LIGHTS; WHEN THE LIGHTS SHOWED RED.

Narrative

WE WERE ASSIGNED GATE AND REALIZED; ON REVIEW BEFORE BEGINNING DSCNT; THAT THIS GATE HAD A PARKING SYS UNIQUE TO US. WE REVIEWED AND BRIEFED THE 2 ELEMENTS OF THE SYS APCH AND LINE-UP. WX WAS BAD AT ORD; AND WE HAD A LAST MIN RWY CHANGE TO RWY 9R. AFTER EXIT AT TXWY M6; WE WERE CLRED STRAIGHT TO THE GATE. I PICKED UP THE LINE-UP GREEN BAR; AND TAXIED IN WITH THE APCH LIGHTS RED. LUCKILY; WE STOPPED IN THE RIGHT SPOT AND ACFT REPOS WAS NOT REQUIRED; AND NO DAMAGE OCCURRED. THE AGENT RELATED THIS WAS NOT THE FIRST OCCURRENCE WITH S80 CREWS. THIS WAS MY FIRST EXPOSURE TO THE SYS; AND EVEN AFTER A THOROUGH REVIEW; MADE A SIGNIFICANT ERROR. SUPPLEMENTAL INFO FROM ACN 578435: WE WERE ASSIGNED GATE AT THE ORD INTL TERMINAL. WE REVIEWED THE SELF-PARKING SYS IN DETAIL; PRIOR TO ARR. AFTER LNDG ON RWY 9R; WE HAD A VERY SHORT TAXI TO THE GATE; WHEREIN I WAS INVOLVED WITH THE AFTER-LNDG CHKLIST. THE CAPT APCHED THE GATE; USING THE SELF-PARKING SYS. GUIDE MEN WERE NOT WAITING TO MEET OUR ACFT. WHEN I LOOKED UP TO SEE THAT THE SELF-PARKING SYS LIGHT WAS RED; I BROUGHT THIS TO THE CAPT'S ATTN. HE STOPPED THE ACFT IMMEDIATELY. BY THIS TIME; THE ACFT WAS COINCIDENTALLY IN A PROPER POS FOR THE JETBRIDGE. WE HAD; HOWEVER; APCHED THE GATE WITH A RED LIGHT ON THE SELF-PARKING SYS; AND NO GUIDE MEN TO MARSHALL THE ACFT. NO DAMAGE WAS DONE; BUT THE AGENT MENTIONED THAT THIS HAD OCCURRED A NUMBER OF TIMES WITH UNFAMILIAR S80 CREWS. THIS WAS MY FIRST TIME TO BE EXPOSED TO THE SELF-PARKING SYS AT ORD.