AN ACFT ON APCH TO CLT RWY 18L WAS ISSUED A GAR. AN ACFT ON RWY 18L HELD FOR RWY 23 LNDG TFC THEN WAS ON THE RWY AS THE REPORTER WAS NEAR TOUCHDOWN.

Narrative

CLT ARPT WAS VFR AND LNDG RWYS 18L; 18R AND 23. TWO TWR FREQS WERE IN USE. ONE TWR CTLR WAS CTLING RWYS 18L AND 23. AFTER BEING CLRED FOR THE VISUAL APCH TO RWY 18L AT CLT BY CHARLOTTE APCH; WE WERE ASSIGNED AN INITIAL SPD OF 170 KTS. WE WERE LATER SLOWED TO 150 KTS AND HANDED OFF TO THE TWR AT APPROX A 7 MI STRAIGHT-IN FINAL. WE WERE TRACKING THE LOC AND GS WHILE ON THE APCH. I; AS THE PNF; CHKED IN WITH TWR AT APPROX 6 MI OUT ON FINAL. CLT TWR ACKNOWLEDGED OUR CHK IN AND ADVISED US THAT THERE WAS TFC LNDG ON THE XING RWY 23 PRIOR TO OUR ARR AS WELL AS AN A320 DEPARTING ON RWY 18L PRIOR TO OUR ARR. WE WERE TOLD BY TWR TO 'CONTINUE.' AS WE APCHED; THE AIRBUS WAS CLRED INTO POS AND HOLD ON RWY 18L AND TOLD TO 'BE READY TO GO.' AS SOON AS THE RWY 23 TFC CLRED THE XING INTXN AT RWY 18L; TWR ISSUED IMMEDIATE TKOF CLRNC TO THE AIRBUS. AT THIS POINT WE WERE ON A 1 1/2 MI FINAL FOR RWY 18L. WE PREPARED OURSELVES FOR A GAR. CLT TWR CLRED US TO LAND AT APPROX 1 MI FINAL AS THE AIRBUS WAS STILL ROLLING ON THE RWY FOR TKOF. WE NOTICED THAT THE AIRBUS STILL WAS NOT OFF THE RWY AS WE APCHED 1/2 MI FINAL AND WE WERE PREPARING TO INITIATE A GAR WHEN THE TWR CALLED US AND ORDERED US TO 'GO AROUND.' THESE WERE THE ONLY INSTRUCTIONS GIVEN BY THE TWR. THE CAPT INITIATED A HAND FLOWN GAR FROM THE L SEAT. THE AIRBUS HAD JUST BROKEN GND AS WE BEGAN OUR CLB. IN ORDER TO KEEP THE AIRBUS IN SIGHT; HE OFFSET OUR GAR SLIGHTLY TO THE R OF THE RWY 18L CTRLINE. CHARLOTTE TWR THEN TOLD US TO MAKE A L TURN TO 090 DEG HDG. WE ADVISED 'UNABLE' DUE TO OUR PROX TO THE AIRBUS WHO WAS TO OUR L AND CLBING AT NEAR THE SAME RATE AS US. I THEN NOTICED AN ACFT OFF OUR R CLBING OFF RWY 18R. RWY 18R WAS USING A SEPARATE TWR FREQ; SO WE WERE UNAWARE OF THIS TFC PRIOR TO VISUAL CONTACT. I ADVISED TWR THAT WE HAD BOTH ACFT IN SIGHT AND THAT WE WOULD TAKE UP A COURSE TO PARALLEL BOTH ACFT TO MAINTAIN VISUAL SEPARATION. TWR TOLD US TO CLB TO 4000 FT. THEY THEN HAD US DSND TO 2800 FT AFTER WE HAD ALREADY PASSED 3000 FT. THE 2 ACFT CONTINUED TO CLB AND WHEN WE HAD ADEQUATE VERT SEPARATION WE ADVISED TWR THAT WE COULD MAKE THE L TURN TO THE E. WE WERE VECTORED FOR A VISUAL APCH TO RWY 23 AND LANDED WITHOUT INCIDENT. I BELIEVE THAT THIS POTENTIALLY HAZARDOUS SITUATION WAS CAUSED BY THE CTLR PLACING AN ACFT IN POS AND HOLD WHILE AWAITING 2 ARRIVING ACFT. IN MY OPINION; THIS GAR DID NOT HAVE TO HAPPEN. IF THE CTLR HAD SIMPLY WAITED UNTIL WE LANDED TO GET THE AIRBUS ON THE RWY; THE SITUATION COULD HAVE BEEN AVERTED. ALSO; IF WE HAD BEEN GIVEN A L TURN IMMEDIATELY WHEN GIVEN THE GAR INSTRUCTIONS; WE WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN CONFINED BTWN THE 2 DEPARTING ACFT. DUE TO THE USAGE OF SEPARATE TWR FREQS; WE WERE UNAWARE OF THE DEP OFF RWY 18R AT THE TIME OF OUR GAR. WE WERE UNABLE TO COMPLY WITH THE CTLRS L TURN ASSIGNMENT DUE TO THE CLOSE PROX OF THE AIRBUS DEPARTING OFF RWY 18L.