RPTR MISIDENTIFIES ARPT TXWY MARKINGS AND LIGHTING.
Synopsis
RPTR MISIDENTIFIES ARPT TXWY MARKINGS AND LIGHTING.
Narrative
THIS WAS DAY 3 OF A 3 DAY (NIGHT) TRIP. ALL NIGHT FLYING; GETTING TO BED ABOUT XA00 PST. FIRST NIGHT CHANGED HOTEL ROOMS 3 TIMES DUE TO NOISE. DAY 2 NOT MUCH BETTER FOR REST OR FOOD. HAD A NEW FO JUST RETURNED FROM 3 YR FURLOUGH (NON FLYING). THE LAST 2 LEGS WERE VERY SHORT (25 MINS EACH WAY) PHX-TUS-PHX. THOUGH I WAS FATIGUED; I THOUGHT THE SHORT TURN COULD BE SAFELY FLOWN; TAXIING OUT AT NIGHT OUR PROGRESS WAS BLOCKED BY ANOTHER ACR ON AN INTERSECTING RWY. THE INTL RAMP WAS EMPTY SO I TAXIED ACROSS IT AND BEGAN TO TAXI ON WHAT I THOUGHT WAS THE CTRLINE OF THE NEW TXWY. THERE WERE BLUE RAISED TAXI LIGHTS ON L SIDE OF TXWY BUT NONE ON THE R AT THIS POINT. THE FO MISPLACED HIS DEP PLATE; SO I WAS GLANCING AT MINE AND TAXIING AT THE SAME TIME. I WAS ACTUALLY ON THE DOUBLE YELLOW STRIPE (THE R HAND EDGE) INSTEAD OF THE SINGLE CTR STRIPE. THE WIDE AND EMPTY INTL RAMP ON MY R DISAPPEARED AS WE APCHED THE TAXI BRIDGE; NOW BLUE (FLUSH MOUNTED TAXI LIGHTS) APPEARED VERY CLOSE TO THE ACFT (1:00 O'CLOCK POS ABOUT 30 FT AHEAD). FOR A SECOND I THOUGHT THEY WERE TXWY CTRLINE MARKINGS SINCE THEY WERE OBVIOUSLY FLUSH WITH PAVEMENT. I RECOGNIZED THE ERROR PRIOR TO TAXIING ONTO THE BRIDGE AND THE BLUE TAXI LIGHTS AND PROMPTLY GOT BACK ON THE TRUE CTRLINE. FATIGUE IS SUBTLE AND CAN BE DEADLY WHEN COMBINED WITH POOR NUTRITION. NEXT TIME; I WON'T FLY WHEN I AM THIS TIRED (EVEN A SHORT FLT); I WILL ALSO STAY ON THE TXWY CTRLINE. BETTER A SHORT DELAY THAN AN INCIDENT. REST OF FLT WAS UNEVENTFUL BUT A LESSON WELL LEARNED FOR THIS CREW.
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Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.