CAPT TAXIES TO WRONG RWY AT PBI; CROSSES INTERSECTING RWY IN PROCESS.

Date: 1993-05 · Aircraft: Medium Large Transport; Low Wing; 2 Turbojet Eng

Anomalies: deviation-discrepancy-procedural-clearance|ground-incursion-runway

Synopsis

CAPT TAXIES TO WRONG RWY AT PBI; CROSSES INTERSECTING RWY IN PROCESS.

Narrative

WE WERE CLRED TO TAXI TO RWY 27R AFTER PUSHING BACK FROM THE GATE. I HAD BEEN TO THIS ARPT INFREQUENTLY IN THE RECENT PAST AND HAD REMEMBERED USING RWY 9L ALMOST EXCLUSIVELY WHEN I HAD BEEN THERE BEFORE. FROM OUR POS AFTER PUSHBACK; WE HAD A CLR VIEW OF THE APCH END OF RWY 9L BUT THE END OF RWY 27R WAS NOT VISIBLE FROM THIS SIDE OF THE TERMINAL -- I BEGAN TAXIING TO RWY 9L. KNOWING THAT I DID NOT NEED CLRNC TO CROSS THE INTERSECTING RWY; RWY 14/32; I BEGAN TO CROSS IT BEFORE REALIZING THAT WE SHOULD HAVE BEEN PROCEEDING TO THE OTHER END OF THE ARPT. THE CORRECT TAXI DIRECTION WOULD NOT HAVE INVOLVED XING RWY 14/32. THERE WERE NO ACFT ON APCH FOR RWY 14/32 AT THE TIME AND WE DID NOT CAUSE ANY SORT OF POTENTIAL CONFLICT. JUST AS WE REACHED THE APPROX CTR OF RWY 14/32 AND SLOWED TO BEGIN A TURN TO EXIT THE RWY ON A SBOUND TXWY AND STARTED TO INFORM GND CTL OF OUR UNEXPECTED EXCURSION; THE CTLR CALLED US AND TOLD US TO MERELY CONTINUE TAXIING DOWN RWY 14/32 TO JOIN THE EBOUND TXWY AND CONTINUE TO THE APCH END OF RWY 27R. THIS IS A GREAT EXAMPLE OF HOW IT PAYS TO PAY ATTN AND HAVE 2 HEADS THINKING ABOUT EVERY INSTRUCTION FROM ATC. WHILE I AM GENERALLY QUITE CAREFUL AND SELF-RELIANT CONCERNING THE TAXI RTE (MANY FO'S PAY VERY LITTLE ATTN TO THIS ASPECT OF THE OP; OR ALLOW THEMSELVES TO BECOME ABSORBED IN THEIR OWN GND DUTIES WHILE TAXIING); IT IS ALWAYS POSSIBLE TO FALL VICTIM TO COMPLACENCY. EVEN THOUGH I ALWAYS HAVE MY ARPT CHART OUT ON THE WINDOW CLIP AND SET MY HSI HDG BUG ON THE RWY HDG FOR THE DEP PRIOR TO PUSHING BACK; IT SEEMS THAT I NEED TO WORK HARDER ON MENTALLY MAPPING OUT THE ENTIRE TAXI RTE FROM THE GATE TO THE DEP POINT. THIS IS SOMETHING I ACCOMPLISHED AS A NEW CAPT AS A SECOND NATURE; AND CONSEQUENTLY NEVER HAD A PROB. BUT AFTER A FEW YRS AS CAPT UNDER MY BELT; IT IS EASY TO GET TOO COMFORTABLE; ESPECIALLY IN AN ARPT WITH WHICH I FELT A HIGH COMFORT LEVEL AND WHICH MIGHT BE CONSIDERED A 'NO-BRAINER' -- I.E.; A MAJOR E/W RWY AND NO UNUSUAL TXWY STRUCTURE. IF YOU LEAVE YOUR 'SITUATIONAL AWARENESS IN THE MAP CASE'; YOU CAN GET IN TROUBLE UNDER THE MOST AUSPICIOUS OF CIRCUMSTANCES.

Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.