Narrative:

We were ready for taxi out. We ask for instructions for taxi. The instructions were 'taxi to victor behind the 5th aircraft.' neither the first officer nor I understood the latter well. We asked him to repeat the instructions. He answers; five. We reconfirmed if it was behind an [A320]. He answers us. [Call sign] 'if you cannot find out stop before victor.' we cannot guess which plane number is the number 5. For safety and incorrect instructions we stopped. We asked the phone number in order to call and complain.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Air Carrier Captain reported confusing taxi instructions.

Narrative: We were ready for taxi out. We ask for instructions for taxi. The instructions were 'TAXI TO VICTOR BEHIND THE 5th aircraft.' Neither the First officer nor I understood the latter well. We asked him to repeat the instructions. He answers; Five. We reconfirmed if it was behind an [A320]. He answers us. [Call sign] 'If you cannot find out stop before VICTOR.' We cannot guess which plane number is the Number 5. For safety and incorrect instructions we stopped. We asked the phone number in order to call and complain.

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.