FO OF A B737-300 FOUND LESS THAN ADEQUATE RAMP AND TXWY MARKINGS FOR GUIDANCE TO AND FROM RAMP AREAS. DIFFICULT TO SEE WHERE THE RAMP ENDED AND A TXWY MOVEMENT AREA STARTED.

Date: 1999-05 · Aircraft: B737-300 · Phase: taxi

Anomalies: ground-excursion-ramp|ground-incursion-taxiway|other-poor-ramp-and-txwy-marking

Synopsis

FO OF A B737-300 FOUND LESS THAN ADEQUATE RAMP AND TXWY MARKINGS FOR GUIDANCE TO AND FROM RAMP AREAS. DIFFICULT TO SEE WHERE THE RAMP ENDED AND A TXWY MOVEMENT AREA STARTED.

Narrative

HAVE FLOWN INTO LAS 6 OR MORE YRS AGO. STARTED FLYING INTO LAS AGAIN RECENTLY; BUT JUST A FEW TIMES. USE COMMERCIAL CHARTS TAILORED TO OUR AIRLINE. RAMP AREAS HAVE A RAMP CTL THAT CTL ACFT ON CERTAIN RAMP AREAS. RETURNING TO LAS AND NOT REALLY FAMILIAR WITH ARPT PROCS; FOUND CHARTS NOT VERY HELPFUL FOR ACTUAL OPS. PRIOR TO OPERATING INTO UNFAMILIAR ARPTS; I USUALLY REVIEW DIAGRAMS AND ANY PUBLISHED PROCS. SOME ARPTS OFFER EXCELLENT AND PRACTICAL INFO; LAS INFO IS VERY GENERAL AND UNSPECIFIC. COULD NOT REALLY GUESS WHAT TO EXPECT. OF COURSE MOST OF MY FLYING INTO ARPT WAS AT NIGHT. I FOUND TXWY MARKINGS WERE VERY POOR; ESPECIALLY AROUND THE RAMP AREA. THE RAMP IS JUST A WIDE EXPANSE OF CONCRETE IN THE VICINITY OF THE C CONCOURSE AND SOME OF THE OTHER CONCOURSES. AT NIGHT DIDN'T REALLY SEE ANY YELLOW LINES TO GUIDE ACFT ALONG RAMP AREA. THERE WAS NO CLR DESIGNATION OF WHERE THE RAMP ENDS AND WHERE THE MOVEMENT AREAS (ACTIVE TXWYS) BEGIN. THERE ARE RAMP SPOTS; BUT THEY ARE DIFFICULT TO SEE UP CLOSE AND IMPOSSIBLE FROM A DISTANCE. THE RAMP AREAS HAVE AREAS BOUNDED BY DOUBLE YELLOW LINES THAT ARE USABLE BY ACFT (ACFT ARE PARKED THERE AT TIMES). THOSE AREAS MAKE IT MORE CONFUSING TO TAXI; ESPECIALLY IF YOU'RE NOT FAMILIAR WITH THE LAYOUT. SOLUTIONS: SOME RTE GUIDANCE LINES MANY ARPTS HAVE TO GUIDE ACFT THROUGH LARGE RAMP AREAS. POSITIVE AND OBVIOUS MARKINGS TO IDENT WHEN MOVING FROM MOVEMENT AREA TO NONMOVEMENT AREA AND VICE VERSA. JUST PAINTING BRIGHT; LARGE LINES WOULD WORK GREAT -- ESPECIALLY IF THEY ARE REPAINTED OFTEN. ALSO; SHOWING BOUNDARIES OF THE NONMOVEMENT AREA ON THE ARPT DIAGRAMS WOULD BE VERY HELPFUL.

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