FLC OF B737 TAXIING FOR TKOF IS CLRED TO FOLLOW A BRASILIA. THEY FOLLOW THE ACFT UNTIL THEY REALIZE HE HAS CROSSED RWY 23L AND THEY STOP SHORT OF THAT RWY BUT BEYOND THE HOLD LINE. AN MD80 IS TOLD TO MAKE A GAR.

Date: 1998-02 · Aircraft: B737 Undifferentiated or Other Model

Anomalies: ground-incursion-runway|other-unspecified

Synopsis

FLC OF B737 TAXIING FOR TKOF IS CLRED TO FOLLOW A BRASILIA. THEY FOLLOW THE ACFT UNTIL THEY REALIZE HE HAS CROSSED RWY 23L AND THEY STOP SHORT OF THAT RWY BUT BEYOND THE HOLD LINE. AN MD80 IS TOLD TO MAKE A GAR.

Narrative

WE PUSHED FROM THE GATE; STARTED ENGS AND THEN WERE ASKED BY GND CTL IF WE WERE READY FOR TAXI. THE CTLR TOLD US TO FOLLOW AN MD80 AND 2 BRASILIA'S. I ASKED THE FO IF HE COULD SEE THE ACFT AND AT THAT TIME HE DIDN'T SEE THEM. AS THE FO WAS TELLING ME THAT HE DIDN'T SEE THE ACFT; THE CTLR SAID SOMETHING GARBLED; AND THEN SAID THE EQUIVALENT OF DISREGARD AND FOLLOW THE BRASILIA. WE WERE LOOKING FOR THE FIRST BRASILIA AND HAD TO WAIT FOR THAT ACFT TO TAXI INTO VIEW FROM OUR EXTREME L. WE TAXIED OUT BEHIND THE BRASILIA WITH ABOUT 4 OR 5 ACFT IN FRONT OF THE BRASILIA AND ACCOMPLISHED OUR CHKLISTS. THE BRASILIA TAXIED ACROSS RWY 23L AND ONTO RWY 23R. WE WERE THEN TOLD TO HOLD OUR POS BY TWR (FREQ 120.9) AND WE STOPPED SHORT OF RWY 23L. AT THAT TIME THE TWR CTLR DIRECTED AN MD80 TO GAR AND WE WATCHED HIM EXECUTE A CTLED GAR. HE PASSED OVERHEAD; WELL CLR OF OUR ACFT. THE TWR CTLR THEN CLRED US TO TAXI ONTO RWY 23R; GAVE US A PHONE NUMBER TO CALL AND CLRED US FOR TKOF. IN MY OPINION THIS INCIDENT MAY HAVE BEEN AVOIDED IF THE GND CTLR HAD BEEN A LITTLE MORE OBSERVANT; AND IF THE ARPT RWY CONFIGN WAS A LITTLE LESS COMPLICATED AND I HAD BEEN MORE OBSERVANT. THE RWY LAYOUT IS SOMEWHAT DIFFICULT TO WORK FOR BOTH ARPT PROFESSIONALS AND FLCS. SUPPLEMENTAL INFO FROM ACN 393631: THEY NEVER GAVE A TAXI RTE. THE TAXI RTE WENT ONTO RWY 28 WHERE WE CONTINUED TO FOLLOW THE BRASILIA. WE DID NOT HEAR THE CLRNC FOR THE BRASILIA TO CROSS RWY 23L AND CONTINUED TO FOLLOW HIM. WE THEN REALIZED WE HAD CROSSED THE RWY 23L HOLD LINE AND WERE APCHING RWY 23L. WE STOPPED ABOUT 20 FT SHORT OF THE EDGE OF RWY 23L. ABOUT THIS SAME POINT WE HEARD TWR CALLING US. WE RESPONDED 3-4 TIMES BEFORE THEY ACKNOWLEDGED THEY HEARD US. AT THIS POINT AN ACR ACFT WAS SENT AROUND. WE WERE SUBSEQUENTLY CLRED TO CROSS RWY 23L AND TKOF ON RWY 23R AND WERE GIVEN THE PHONE NUMBER AND ADVISED TO CALL TWR AT OUR NEXT STOP. THIS EVENT HAS TAUGHT ME THAT NON STANDARD TAXI INSTRUCTIONS MUST ALWAYS BE CLARIFIED IF THERE IS A POTENTIAL FOR MISUNDERSTANDING. CONFUSING TXWYS AND AWKWARD RWY INTXNS INCREASE THE NEED FOR AWARENESS AND LOOKOUT DURING THESE CRITICAL POINTS.

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