ACR TURNS WRONG TAXIWAY; BLOCKS TFC. WAITS FOR TUG TO TOW.
Synopsis
ACR TURNS WRONG TAXIWAY; BLOCKS TFC. WAITS FOR TUG TO TOW.
Narrative
AFTER LNDG ON RWY 06L AT LAX; WE CLRED THE RWY AT TAXIWAY 47 AND HELD SHORT OF 06R. THEN WE WERE CLRED ACROSS 06R; SO WE CROSSED AND TURNED R ON TAXIWAY UNIFORM AS WE CONTACTED LAX GND CTL. GND CTL INSTRUCTED US TO 'TAXI VIA S RTE TO THE GATE.' THERE ARE DESCRIPTIONS OF THIS TAXI RTE ON OUR COMMERCIAL AND COMPANY PUBLICATIONS. I HAD STUDIED THE DESCRIPTIONS BEFORE WE BEGAN THE DSCNT; BUT RIGHT THEN I COULDN'T RECALL THE PROC; SO I STOPPED THE ACFT AND HAD THE COPLT ASK FOR PROGRESSIVE TAXI INSTRUCTIONS. THE GND CTLR INSTRUCTED US TO TURN L ON TAXIWAY 49. I SAW THE 49 SIGN AND TURNED L. I WAS ABOUT HALFWAY BTWN THE TANGO TAXIWAY AND THE '50 YARD LINE' WHEN I NOTICED AN ACFT COMING TOWARD ME ON THE SAME TAXIWAY. THAT IS WHEN I DISCOVERED THAT I WAS ON TAXIWAY 48 INSTEAD OF 49. BY THE TIME A TUG CAME OUT AND PUSHED US BACK UP TO TANGO SO WE COULD TRANSITION TO TAXIWAY 49 AND PROCEED TO OUR GATE; NEARLY 45 MINS HAD PASSED. BECAUSE I CAUSED A NEEDED TAXIWAY TO BE BLOCKED; MOST OF THE DEPS AND ARRS WERE DELAYED FOR A FEW MINS DURING THAT TIME. NOW I KNOW THAT THERE ARE LOTS OF VARIOUS LIGHTS AROUND THE INTXNS OF 48; 49; UNIFORM; AND TANGO. IT WAS DARK AND IT HAD JUST STARTED RAINING AGAIN AS WE TURNED ONTO TAXIWAY UNIFORM. I DID NOT SEE THE SIGN FOR TAXIWAY 48; BUT I SAW THE SIGN FOR 49. THE BLUE TAXIWAY EDGE LIGHTS FOR TAXIWAY 49 ARE NOT REGULAR THERE BECAUSE OF ALL THE INTXNS CLOSE TOGETHER; BUT THE GREEN CTRLINE TAXIWAY LIGHTS ON TAXIWAY 48 ARE REGULAR. SINCE I DID STOP THE ACFT AND ASK FOR PROGRESSIVE INSTRUCTIONS; I WAS SURPRISED THE GND CTLR DIDN'T NOTICE OUR MISTAKE; HOWEVER; THAT REMINDS ME AGAIN THAT I AM THE RESPONSIBLE PARTY FIRST; LAST; AND ALWAYS. ANOTHER INTERESTING CIRCUMSTANCE WAS THAT THERE WERE NO OTHER ACFT AHEAD OF US GOING SBOUND ON TAXIWAY 49 THAT WOULD HAVE ALERTED ME TO THAT TAXIWAY POS. I HAD ONLY BEEN TO LAX ONCE WITHIN THE PAST SEVERAL YRS; AND THE FO DID NOT REMEMBER EVER BEING ON THE N SIDE OF THE ARPT.
Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.