ATC cleared an aircraft to line up and wait on sfo runway 28R; but the crew held short because they ...

Narrative:

Departing sfo we required either runway 28L or right for departure. We were cleared by ground to taxi to and hold short of 28L. Tower subsequently cleared us to cross 28L and taxi into position and hold on 28R. As I taxied between the runways I looked out on final and it appeared that a plane was approaching 28R for landing; approximately 1/2 mile out. My copilot was briefly heads-down changing the runway and takeoff data in the FMC. I asked him to look out; and he agreed that it did appear a plane was approaching the runway we were cleared for. I asked him to tell tower we were holding short; and tower immediately insisted we were cleared into position and hold. My copilot replied that there was a plane landing right in front of us. The tower controller seemed confused; and as the plane passed by; he said ok; we were now cleared into position and hold. The landing airplane was told to go around; from less than 30 ft above the runway. We taxied on to the runway and were subsequently cleared for takeoff. The rest of the departure was normal. I am certain that if I had not visually cleared final and stopped before taking the runway it would have at the least been a very near miss. If I had continued as cleared and the arriving plane had not seen us or been able to react in time; we would have collided.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: ATC cleared an aircraft to line up and wait on SFO Runway 28R; but the crew held short because they saw an aircraft on short final which ultimately did land on 28R.

Narrative: Departing SFO we required either Runway 28L or R for departure. We were cleared by ground to taxi to and hold short of 28L. Tower subsequently cleared us to cross 28L and taxi into position and hold on 28R. As I taxied between the runways I looked out on final and it appeared that a plane was approaching 28R for landing; approximately 1/2 mile out. My copilot was briefly heads-down changing the runway and takeoff data in the FMC. I asked him to look out; and he agreed that it did appear a plane was approaching the runway we were cleared for. I asked him to tell Tower we were holding short; and Tower immediately insisted we were cleared into position and hold. My copilot replied that there was a plane landing right in front of us. The Tower Controller seemed confused; and as the plane passed by; he said OK; we were now cleared into position and hold. The landing airplane was told to go around; from less than 30 FT above the runway. We taxied on to the runway and were subsequently cleared for takeoff. The rest of the departure was normal. I am certain that if I had not visually cleared final and stopped before taking the runway it would have at the least been a very near miss. If I had continued as cleared and the arriving plane had not seen us or been able to react in time; we would have collided.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2013 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.

Attributes
ACN	1033006
Time
Date	201208
Local Time Of Day	1201-1800
Place
Locale Reference	SFO.Airport
State Reference	CA
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Commercial Fixed Wing
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Taxi
Flight Plan	IFR
Aircraft 2
Make Model Name	Commercial Fixed Wing
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Final Approach
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Function	Captain Pilot Flying
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 150 Flight Crew Total 20000 Flight Crew Type 5000
Events
Anomaly	ATC Issue All Types Conflict Ground Conflict Critical Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy

ATC cleared an aircraft to line up and wait on sfo runway 28R; but the crew held short because they saw an aircraft on short final which ultimately did land on 28R.