TKOF STARTED ON WRONG RWY AT CLE. ABORT CALLED BY TWR.
Synopsis
TKOF STARTED ON WRONG RWY AT CLE. ABORT CALLED BY TWR.
Narrative
WE WERE CLRED FOR TKOF ON RWY 23L WHILE STILL TAXIING AND COMPLETING CHKLISTS. WE TAXIED INTO POS AND STARTED OUR TKOF ROLL. AN ALERT TWR CTLR ORDERED US TO ABORT OUR TKOF; WE WERE ROLLING DOWN THE WRONG RWY (RWY 28; A MUCH SHORTER RWY). WE ABORTED AND TAXIED BACK FOR THE PROPER RWY. IF WE HAD NOT RECEIVED THE ORDER TO ABORT; THE RESULTS WOULD HAVE BEEN CATASTROPHIC. AMAZINGLY; TWO OF US HAD FLOWN OUT OF CLE ON NUMEROUS OCCASIONS IN THE PAST YR. WE WERE BOTH AWARE OF THE CONFUSING INTXN OF RWYS 28 AND 23L AT CLE. WE EVEN MENTIONED IT IN OUR BRIEF. YET; IN THE SEQUENCE OF EVENTS THAT OCCURRED; WE ALL THREE ALLOWED OURSELVES TO MAKE THE MISTAKE WE SAID WE WOULDN'T LET HAPPEN; DUE TO DISTRACTIONS; TIMING; AND MISLEADING CUES. THE FLT WAS THE FIRST OF A WK-LONG TRIP. WE HAD ALL BEEN OFF FOR A WK OR MORE (I HADN'T FLOWN IN 3 WKS DUE TO OTHER DUTIES). IT HAD BEEN 4 MONTHS SINCE I HAD FLOWN OUT OF CLE. IT WAS THE FIRST FLT FOR THIS CREW TOGETHER. WE WERE ALL ADJUSTING OUR SLEEP PATTERNS FOR A WK OF NIGHT FREIGHT. IN A NUTSHELL; MANY THINGS SEEMED 'OUT OF SYNC.' AS A CREW; WE HADN'T DEVELOPED A GOOD RHYTHM OF COORD. MY BODY WAS OUT OF SYNC; EVERYTHING SEEMED TO REQUIRE EXTRA EFFORT OR THOUGHT. IT WAS ALSO THE FIRST TIME IN ABOUT 6 MONTHS I'D FLOWN THE B200 MODEL AND ITS PARTICULAR COCKPIT LAYOUT/INSTRUMENTATION. UPON BLOCK OUT WE EXPERIENCED COM PROBS OVER VHF #1; OUR PRIMARY RADIO. DUE TO PDC PROCS; THE FIRST TEST OF OUR RADIOS WAS THE CALL TO TAXI. WE EVENTUALLY SWITCHED TO VHF #2 AS A PRIMARY RADIO; BUT ON TAXI-OUT; INCLUDING A CRM BRIEF; A TKOF BRIEF; AND THE TKOF CHKLIST; CONFUSION DEVELOPED OVER WHICH RADIO WAS IN USE. WE WERE EXPECTING RWY 23R; BUT BEFORE CALLING READY THE TWR CLRED US FOR TKOF ON RWY 23L. I SAW THE RED 'RWY 23L-5R' SIGN AND PULLED INTO POS AS WE COMPLETED THE TKOF CHKLIST. I WAS AWARE THERE WAS TFC BEHIND US. AFTER SEEING THE SIGN; I THINK I TRUSTED THE FO'S FAMILIARITY. I THINK HE TRUSTED MY FAMILIARITY. WE BOTH FAILED TO CHK OUR HEADING BUG IN THE EFFORT TO EXPEDITE OUR TKOF. DUE TO THE MANY THINGS OCCUPYING MY ATTN AT THAT POINT; I INADVERTENTLY LINED UP ON RWY 28. THE LOCATION OF THE 'RWY 23L-5R' SIGN AT TXWY J IS VERY MISLEADING AND IS VERY DANGEROUS IN MY OPINION; ESPECIALLY FOR NIGHT OPS. THIS SIGN LULLED ME INTO MAKING A DANGEROUS MISTAKE. IT SHOULD BE MOVED OR REMOVED. THANK GOD FOR AN ALERT CTLR AND ONE GOOD RADIO. SUPPLEMENTAL INFO FROM ACN 327766: THE CAPT AND MYSELF HAVE BOTH FLOWN OUT OF CLEVELAND ON RWY 23L ON MANY OCCASIONS. WE WERE BOTH VERY AWARE OF THE CLOSE PROX OF THE 2 RWYS AND I EVEN MENTIONED IT WHILE TAXIING OUT. SO WE WERE BOTH AWARE OF THE CONFUSING INTXN AT RWYS 28 AND 23L. DUE TO DISTRACTIONS (VHF #1 PROBS); TIMING (BEING CLRED EARLY FOR TKOF); AND MISLEADING CUES (RWY MARKERS); PLUS FIRST FLT WITH A NEW CREW AND SCHEDULE; WE MADE THE ERROR.
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Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.