A CARGO PLT IMPROPERLY LINED UP ON RWY 31C AT MDW. DURING THE TKOF ROLL HE RAN OVER ELEVATED RWY LIGHTS; THEN HIS R PROP HIT THE RWY EDGE LIGHTS.
Synopsis
A CARGO PLT IMPROPERLY LINED UP ON RWY 31C AT MDW. DURING THE TKOF ROLL HE RAN OVER ELEVATED RWY LIGHTS; THEN HIS R PROP HIT THE RWY EDGE LIGHTS.
Narrative
I WAS TAXIING OUT TO; AND CLRED TO DEPART FROM; RWY 31C BY TWR CTL WHILE STILL ON THE TXWY. A B737 HAD BEGUN ITS TKOF ROLL APPROX 10 SECONDS PRIOR TO MY TKOF CLRNC; SO I ELECTED TO USE MAX AVAILABLE RWY SO AS TO MINIMIZE WAKE TURB EXPOSURE ON CLBOUT. I FOLLOWED THE YELLOW TXWY CTRLINE STRIPE OUT TO THE BEGINNING OF THE DISPLACED THRESHOLD TO INITIATE MY TKOF ROLL. HERE'S WHERE I BELIEVE THE MISTAKE OCCURRED. WHEN I FOLLOWED THE YELLOW TXWY CTRLINE STRIPE OUT TO THE WHITE RWY MARKINGS; I THOUGHT I WAS ALIGNING WITH THE 'TAIL' OF A DISPLACED THRESHOLD ARROW. INSTEAD; THE YELLOW STRIPE LED ME TO THE RWY EDGE MARKINGS; AND CONTINUED ONTO A TXWY ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE RWY. BELIEVING I WAS ALIGNED ON THE RWY CTRLINE; I LOOKED FORWARD AND SAW A ROW OF WHITE LIGHTS THAT I BELIEVED TO BE RWY CTRLINE LIGHTS. I COMPLETED MY RWY CHKLIST; APPLIED FULL PWR; AND APPROX 5 SECONDS LATER HEARD THE 'POPPING' NOISES OF THE NOSE GEAR GOING THROUGH ELEVATED RWY LIGHTS. STILL NOT REALIZING THE MISTAKE I HAD MADE; I APPLIED L RUDDER PRESSURE TO OFFSET THE AIRPLANE FROM WHAT I PERCEIVED AS MERELY A LOUDER THAN NORMAL NOISE OF THE NOSE GEAR GOING OVER CTRLINE LIGHTING. WHEN I DID THIS; THE R PROP CONTACTED THE RWY EDGE LIGHTS; SEVERELY DAMAGING THE PROP. I IMMEDIATELY SHUT BOTH ENGS DOWN AND ABORTED TKOF. RADIO CONTACT WITH THE TWR WAS LOST DUE TO ANTENNA DAMAGE. AFTER THE ACFT WAS REMOVED FROM THE RWY; AN ARPT OFFICIAL PULLED ME ASIDE AND TOLD ME 2 ACFT (THE FIRST BEING A PAX JET!) WERE INVOLVED IN SIMILAR INCIDENTS ON THE SAME RWY IN THE PREVIOUS MONTH. HE BELIEVED A MARKING PROB EXISTED AT THE DEP END OF RWY 31C COMING OFF THE TXWYS; AND HE DROVE ME IN AN ARPT VEHICLE ALONG THE RTE I HAD TAKEN IN MY ACFT FROM THE TXWY TO RWY 31C TO SHOW WHAT HE BELIEVED COULD BE THE PROB. UNTIL THIS POINT; I WAS COMPLETELY BEWILDERED AS TO HOW THE ACFT HAD JUST MYSTERIOUSLY 'GONE OFF THE RWY.' ONCE WE FOLLOWED THE TXWY CTRLINE STRIPE OUT TO THE RWY; HOWEVER; IT BECAME EVIDENT THAT I WAS PARTIALLY LED TO/PARTIALLY MISTAKEN THE RWY EDGE FOR THE CTR OF THE DISPLACED THRESHOLD. THEREFORE; I APPEAR TO HAVE BEEN PERFECTLY ALIGNED WITH THE R EDGE OF RWY 31C. AN INTERESTING NOTE IS THAT THE FOLLOWING FRIDAY NIGHT I HEARD ARPT VEHICLES COMMUNICATING WITH ATC; OPERATING WITH A PAINTING CREW IN THE DISPLACED THRESHOLD AREA OF RWY 31C. I HAVE NOT YET SEEN THE CHANGES.
Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.