Narrative:

The first officer was flying the aircraft. We were about a mi and a half out on final approach to runway 26R at den when the tower controller cleared an air carrier a widebody transport to cross our runway. The widebody transport did not move. The tower called him again and said, there is an aircraft on a mi final cleared to cross runway 26R. When we were less than a half mi out the widebody transport began to taxi across the runway. The tower told him to expedite, but I could see that he had no intention of clearing the runway in time for us to land. At about 100' AGL we executed a go around. At that time, only the section forward of the wing leading edge of the widebody transport was on the runway and he was moving very slowly, much slower than normal taxi speed. I cannot understand why a widebody transport captain, with supposedly many years of experience and wisdom, would taxi an aircraft onto a runway knowing that another aircraft was about to land on that runway. Regulations and common sense would dictate holding short. Maybe he felt that because the tower cleared him to cross, the responsibility for a safe operation was no longer his. It was an extremely unsafe and dangerous action. He jeopardized the safety of his passenger and crew as well as mine. If we had continued our approach and landed, I believe there would have been a collision. The tower controller was also in error for not having the widebody transport hold short when we were less than a mi out and he had still not begun his taxi across the runway. It was like the controller was unaware of how close we were to touchdown and unaware of how long it takes an air carrier a widebody transport to cross a runway, especially when an air carrier B medium large transport is on short final.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: REPORTER ACFT EXECUTED GO AROUND FROM LOW ALT ACCOUNT WDB DID NOT CLEAR ACTIVE RWY AFTER BEING CLEARED TO CROSS IT.

Narrative: THE F/O WAS FLYING THE ACFT. WE WERE ABOUT A MI AND A HALF OUT ON FINAL APCH TO RWY 26R AT DEN WHEN THE TWR CTLR CLRED AN ACR A WDB TO CROSS OUR RWY. THE WDB DID NOT MOVE. THE TWR CALLED HIM AGAIN AND SAID, THERE IS AN ACFT ON A MI FINAL CLRED TO CROSS RWY 26R. WHEN WE WERE LESS THAN A HALF MI OUT THE WDB BEGAN TO TAXI ACROSS THE RWY. THE TWR TOLD HIM TO EXPEDITE, BUT I COULD SEE THAT HE HAD NO INTENTION OF CLEARING THE RWY IN TIME FOR US TO LAND. AT ABOUT 100' AGL WE EXECUTED A GO AROUND. AT THAT TIME, ONLY THE SECTION FORWARD OF THE WING LEADING EDGE OF THE WDB WAS ON THE RWY AND HE WAS MOVING VERY SLOWLY, MUCH SLOWER THAN NORMAL TAXI SPEED. I CANNOT UNDERSTAND WHY A WDB CAPT, WITH SUPPOSEDLY MANY YEARS OF EXPERIENCE AND WISDOM, WOULD TAXI AN ACFT ONTO A RWY KNOWING THAT ANOTHER ACFT WAS ABOUT TO LAND ON THAT RWY. REGS AND COMMON SENSE WOULD DICTATE HOLDING SHORT. MAYBE HE FELT THAT BECAUSE THE TWR CLRED HIM TO CROSS, THE RESPONSIBILITY FOR A SAFE OPERATION WAS NO LONGER HIS. IT WAS AN EXTREMELY UNSAFE AND DANGEROUS ACTION. HE JEOPARDIZED THE SAFETY OF HIS PAX AND CREW AS WELL AS MINE. IF WE HAD CONTINUED OUR APCH AND LANDED, I BELIEVE THERE WOULD HAVE BEEN A COLLISION. THE TWR CTLR WAS ALSO IN ERROR FOR NOT HAVING THE WDB HOLD SHORT WHEN WE WERE LESS THAN A MI OUT AND HE HAD STILL NOT BEGUN HIS TAXI ACROSS THE RWY. IT WAS LIKE THE CTLR WAS UNAWARE OF HOW CLOSE WE WERE TO TOUCHDOWN AND UNAWARE OF HOW LONG IT TAKES AN ACR A WDB TO CROSS A RWY, ESPECIALLY WHEN AN ACR B MLG IS ON SHORT FINAL.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of August 2007 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.