AN ACR BA41 FLC WAS DISTRACTED BY A PAIR OF RABBITS THAT RAN IN FRONT OF THEM AND THEY MISSED A TXWY TURN PASSING THE HOLD LINE FOR A RWY. THE CAPT DECIDED; AFTER LOOKING FOR TFC; TO TURN ONTO THE INACTIVE RWY THEN EXIT BACK TO THE TXWY AND CONTINUE TO THE GATE.

Date: 1998-01 · Aircraft: Jetstream 41

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

Synopsis

AN ACR BA41 FLC WAS DISTRACTED BY A PAIR OF RABBITS THAT RAN IN FRONT OF THEM AND THEY MISSED A TXWY TURN PASSING THE HOLD LINE FOR A RWY. THE CAPT DECIDED; AFTER LOOKING FOR TFC; TO TURN ONTO THE INACTIVE RWY THEN EXIT BACK TO THE TXWY AND CONTINUE TO THE GATE.

Narrative

AFTER LNDG AT JFK ON RWY 22L; WE WERE CLRED TO CROSS RWY 4L/22R AT GOLF AND PROCEED TO GATE VIA TXWYS B AND W. AFTER MAKING THE R TURN ONTO TXWY B AND AT INTXN F; 2 RABBITS JUMPED IN FRONT OF THE ACFT FROM THE L. IN THE CONFUSION TO AVOID KILLING THEM AND DAMAGING THE ACFT I MUST HAVE MISSED THE CURVE TO THE L TO REMAIN ON TXWY B AND ENDED UP (UNKNOWINGLY) ON TXWY ZA. MY FO PUT ON THE BRAKES ONLY AFTER XING THE HOLD SHORT LINE OF RWY 31R/13L. SINCE THE RWY WAS NOT IN USE I QUICKLY MADE A L ON THE RWY AND THE NEXT L ON TXWY E. WE TAXIED TO THE GATE WITHOUT FURTHER INCIDENT. THE INTXN OF TXWY B/F/ZA HAS BEEN THE POINT OF CONFUSION FOR OTHER ACFT AS WELL; WITHOUT THE RABBITS. BETTER AND WELL LIT SIGNAGE? I AM THANKFUL THE RWY WAS NOT IN USE. THIS IS MY FIRST NASA RPT. NEXT TIME I WILL VERIFY POS AFTER BEING DISTRACTED. CALLBACK CONVERSATION WITH RPTR REVEALED THE FOLLOWING INFO: THE RPTR SAID THAT THE VISIBILITY FROM THE WINDSHIELD OF HIS BAE JETSTREAM 41 IS EXCELLENT; BUT ON THIS NIGHT JFK HAD A PARTIAL PWR LOSS; AND THE TXWY AND SIGN LIGHTS WERE OUT. THE RABBITS RAN IN FRONT OF HIM JUST BEFORE THE TRANSITION TURN TO THE NW AND DISTRACTED HIM. HE PROCEEDED DOWN THE STRAIGHT AHEAD TXWY 'ZA' TOWARDS RWY 13L/31R. HE SAID THAT THE FO 'JUMPED' ON THE BRAKES WHEN HE REALIZED THAT THE RWY WAS COMING UP. THE RPTR SAID THAT THE TWR FREQ WAS BUSY SO HE SCANNED THE AREA AND; SEEING NO TFC; HE TURNED DOWN THE RWY TO THE NEXT TURNOFF AND REJOINED THE RTE TO THE GATE. THE CAPT SAID THAT HE HAS SEEN SEVERAL ACFT MISS THIS TURN AT NIGHT; ESPECIALLY. HE FEELS THAT; IN NORMAL CONDITIONS LIGHTED HOLD LINES WOULD HELP PLTS TO HOLD SHORT. HE OPERATES INTO SEVERAL ARPTS THAT ARE EQUIPPED WITH THESE LIGHT SYS AND FINDS THEM VERY HELPFUL AT NIGHT AND IN LOW VISIBILITY.

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