Narrative:

Tower cleared us into position and hold on 1L. We were then cleared for takeoff. First officer acknowledged the clearance and I applied takeoff power. At approximately 30 KTS I heard a weak transmission that I thought was maybe a cancellation of our takeoff clearance. I immediately aborted the takeoff and we taxied clear of the runway. The first officer said that he never heard the cancellation and had no idea why I had aborted until he tried to ask the tower and the controller issued the cancellation again. As we aborted; we saw that there was; in fact; an aircraft on very short final for one of the 28 runways. The first officer and I had both looked at final prior to starting the roll but we were looking directly into the morning sun and there was haze over the bay. Neither of us saw the aircraft until we aborted; besides the obvious problem of being cleared for takeoff with a crossing runway conflict I have other issues with this incident: 1) the controller was streaming multiple transmissions to different aircraft together. The cancellation of takeoff clearance was in the middle of several. The controller did not change the tone of voice or volume of voice or do anything to catch our attention at an extremely busy; noisy part of the operation. First officer totally missed the cancellation and I almost did. 2) the controller refused to give me a phone number to call so that I could find out what happened and discuss it with them. When I requested the phone number; a different voice transmitted; and in a snarling tone of voice said something that sounded like; 'get it yourself!' why? In well over 30 years of flying; I've never been refused a phone number from a tower or air traffic control facility. After contacting chicago dispatch and being re-dispatched we continued to our destination without incident.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: An air carrier Captain reported rejecting a SFO Runway 1L takeoff after ATC alerted the takeoff clearance cancellation. Traffic was on short final for Runway 28 but the crew could not see the aircraft in the sun over the bay.

Narrative: Tower cleared us into position and hold on 1L. We were then cleared for takeoff. First Officer acknowledged the clearance and I applied takeoff power. At approximately 30 KTS I heard a weak transmission that I thought was maybe a cancellation of our takeoff clearance. I immediately aborted the takeoff and we taxied clear of the runway. The First Officer said that he never heard the cancellation and had no idea why I had aborted until he tried to ask the Tower and the Controller issued the cancellation again. As we aborted; we saw that there was; in fact; an aircraft on VERY short final for one of the 28 runways. The First Officer and I had both looked at final prior to starting the roll but we were looking directly into the morning sun and there was haze over the bay. Neither of us saw the aircraft until we aborted; besides the obvious problem of being cleared for takeoff with a crossing runway conflict I have other issues with this incident: 1) The Controller was streaming multiple transmissions to different aircraft together. The cancellation of takeoff clearance was in the middle of several. The Controller did not change the tone of voice or volume of voice or do anything to catch our attention at an extremely busy; noisy part of the operation. First Officer totally missed the cancellation and I almost did. 2) The Controller refused to give me a phone number to call so that I could find out what happened and discuss it with them. When I requested the phone number; a different voice transmitted; and in a snarling tone of voice said something that sounded like; 'Get it yourself!' Why? In well over 30 years of flying; I've never been refused a phone number from a Tower or air traffic control facility. After contacting Chicago Dispatch and being re-dispatched we continued to our destination without incident.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 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.