Narrative:

We were flying the FMS bridge visual to runway 28R in sfo. When we checked in with approach they told us to join the course only and maintain 6;000 feet. The next communication was confusing. They told us to join the course and comply with the altitudes but we were not cleared for the approach. We didn't understand the clearance. We asked again and they said the same thing; join the course and comply with the altitudes. We read it back that way and stated that it sounded like a weird clearance.ATC then called out traffic for us at 11 o'clock. We called the B737 in sight but were never told what their projected flight path was. We assumed it was lining up for runway 28L. The B737 flew through the final for runway 28L and headed in the direction of our final. I told the first officer to level off the descent. We got a TA and the B737 crossed 700 feet directly below us. We continued the approach and a go around for unrelated reasons (aircraft not clearing the runway). I believe that ATC made a mistake telling us to descend on the FMS bridge visual. The phraseology they used is not standard and created confusion. I have never been told to descend via an approach both laterally and vertically but not cleared for the approach. I asked ATC to clarify and they simply restated the confusing clearance.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A pilot received a clearance from ATC using non-standard phraseology and was unsure if they could begin their descent on the approach. The pilot was also issued incomplete crossing traffic information. The aircraft received a TA and stopped its descent for the traffic that the pilot reports passed 700 feet below them.

Narrative: We were flying the FMS Bridge visual to runway 28R in SFO. When we checked in with approach they told us to join the course only and maintain 6;000 feet. The next communication was confusing. They told us to join the course and comply with the altitudes but we were not cleared for the approach. We didn't understand the clearance. We asked again and they said the same thing; join the course and comply with the altitudes. We read it back that way and stated that it sounded like a weird clearance.ATC then called out traffic for us at 11 o'clock. We called the B737 in sight but were never told what their projected flight path was. We assumed it was lining up for Runway 28L. The B737 flew through the final for Runway 28L and headed in the direction of our final. I told the First Officer to level off the descent. We got a TA and the B737 crossed 700 feet directly below us. We continued the approach and a go around for unrelated reasons (aircraft not clearing the runway). I believe that ATC made a mistake telling us to descend on the FMS Bridge Visual. The phraseology they used is not standard and created confusion. I have never been told to descend via an approach both laterally and vertically but not cleared for the approach. I asked ATC to clarify and they simply restated the confusing clearance.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site 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.