Narrative:

Having contacted ground at spot 2 on taxiway J we were instructed to; 'taxi to runway 9L via K5 to K; monitor tower.' we turned left onto taxiway K-5 and stopped due taxiway K being block by the aircraft ahead of us; a canadair regional jet. As that aircraft was given takeoff clearance and entered the runway the captain began to taxi forward to make the right turn onto taxiway K. Looking to my left before entering K we saw an A-320 approaching from the east on taxiway K at a high taxi speed. That aircraft was showing no indication of giving way to us. Thinking that he did not see us the captain flashed both taxi and runway turn off lights in an attempt to alert the rapidly approaching aircraft. They still showed no sign of stopping and we were forced to stop short of taxiway K to avoid a collision. The A320 continued to the runway 9L hold short. Phl tower called us about this time and issued takeoff clearance; obviously believing we were next in line for takeoff. We informed them that we had been cutout and were now number two in line. Tower then cleared the A320 for takeoff. Had we not stopped when we did I believe there was a high probability that we may have had a collision with the A320 aircraft. Perhaps; due to the darkness the A320 crew never saw us on taxiway K-5. One would hope that this situation was not due to a competitor racing us to be first in line for takeoff. We did not hear their taxi clearance; but believe that this situation may have been contributed to by unclear or insufficiently detailed taxi instructions clearly stating the takeoff order.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: B737 flight crew experienced a conflict with an A320 while attempting to enter Taxiway K from Taxiway K5 at PHL. The B737 yielded to the A320; which was not what the Tower had anticipated.

Narrative: Having contacted ground at Spot 2 on Taxiway J we were instructed to; 'taxi to Runway 9L via K5 to K; monitor Tower.' We turned left onto Taxiway K-5 and stopped due Taxiway K being block by the aircraft ahead of us; a Canadair Regional Jet. As that aircraft was given takeoff clearance and entered the runway the Captain began to taxi forward to make the right turn onto Taxiway K. Looking to my left before entering K we saw an A-320 approaching from the east on Taxiway K at a high taxi speed. That aircraft was showing no indication of giving way to us. Thinking that he did not see us the Captain flashed both taxi and runway turn off lights in an attempt to alert the rapidly approaching aircraft. They still showed no sign of stopping and we were forced to stop short of Taxiway K to avoid a collision. The A320 continued to the Runway 9L hold short. PHL Tower called us about this time and issued takeoff clearance; obviously believing we were next in line for takeoff. We informed them that we had been cutout and were now number two in line. Tower then cleared the A320 for takeoff. Had we not stopped when we did I believe there was a high probability that we may have had a collision with the A320 aircraft. Perhaps; due to the darkness the A320 crew never saw us on Taxiway K-5. One would hope that this situation was not due to a competitor racing us to be first in line for takeoff. We did not hear their taxi clearance; but believe that this situation may have been contributed to by unclear or insufficiently detailed taxi instructions clearly stating the takeoff order.

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.