B737 FLC TAXIES BEYOND RWY HOLD LINE.
Synopsis
B737 FLC TAXIES BEYOND RWY HOLD LINE.
Narrative
DUE TO CONSTRUCTION ON MDW ARPT; UNUSUAL TAXI RTE USED FROM GATE TO RWY 31C. USED TXWYS E; P; AND G. WHEN GETTING INTO THE HOLD SHORT POS I MAY HAVE TAXIED SLIGHTLY TOO CLOSE TO THE RWY. THE HOLD SHORT STRIPES NEED TO BE REPAINTED AND I DIDN'T SEE THEM SOON ENOUGH TO ASSURE SEPARATION. THERE WAS NO ARRIVING TFC AND NO TFC ON THE RWY. SUGGEST GIVING FOLKS A 'HEADS UP' ON THE SHORT DISTANCE FROM THE TXWY CTRLINE TO THE HOLD SHORT LINE. CALLBACK CONVERSATION WITH RPTR REVEALED THE FOLLOWING INFO: RPTR STATES THE PROB WAS THAT NORMALLY THE TAXI RTE IS ACROSS THE END OF RWY 31R AND THERE IS A LONG CONCRETE AREA TO CROSS PRIOR TO REACHING THE HOLD LINE. WITH THE CONSTRUCTION THE TAXI RTE WAS A DETOUR AND BROUGHT THE ACFT TO THE HOLD LINE DIRECTLY OFF THE TXWY. THE LINES DEFINITELY NEED TO BE REPAINTED SINCE WINTER IS COMING ON AND THEY WILL BE EVEN MORE DIFFICULT TO SEE. THE CONSTRUCTION IS COMPLETE NOW AND THAT TAXI RTE WILL NOT BE A PROB. RPTR ALSO WANTED TO DISCUSS THE DIGITAL ATIS PROB. THIS IS REPLACEMENT OF THE ATIS VOICE WITH A COMPUTER GENERATED VOICE. IN SOME PLACES IT IS SO BAD THAT THE FLC MUST LISTEN 3-4 TIMES TO BE ABLE TO UNDERSTAND THE INFO. RPTR SPEAKS 4 LANGUAGES AND STATES THAT AT TIMES THE VOICE SOUNDS LIKE A FOREIGN ACCENTED VOICE; BUT IS INCOMPREHENSIBLE. AT ONE TIME THE NOTAM WHICH WAS ISSUED COULD NOT BE UNDERSTOOD AND A REQUEST WAS MADE FOR CTR TO GIVE THEM THE INFO. CTR DID NOT HAVE THE NOTAM; HAD TO TRACK IT DOWN AND READ THE ENTIRE NOTAM ON FREQ. THE ONE MOST NOTABLE FOR RPTR WAS SLC; BUT THERE ARE ABOUT 300 ARPTS NOW USING THE DIGITAL ATIS VOICE.
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Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.