ACR PLT; AFTER A CONTINUOUS DUTY OVERNIGHT; FINDS HIMSELF ON A RWY WITHOUT CLRNC. HE CITES FATIGUE AS A FACTOR.

Date: 1999-10 · Aircraft: Commercial Fixed Wing · Phase: taxi

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

Synopsis

ACR PLT; AFTER A CONTINUOUS DUTY OVERNIGHT; FINDS HIMSELF ON A RWY WITHOUT CLRNC. HE CITES FATIGUE AS A FACTOR.

Narrative

ON THE EARLY MORNING OF OCT/FRI/99; AT CLEVELAND HOPKINS INTL ARPT; AFTER A 25 MIN DELAY DUE TO A LATE DISPATCH RELEASE; MY ACFT WAS GIVEN A TAXI CLRNC AS FOLLOWS: '...TAXI TO RWY 23R HOLD SHORT OF RWY 23L.' AFTER A PROPER READBACK FROM MY FO; I BEGAN THE TAXI. WE WERE NEITHER GIVEN SPECIFIC TAXI INSTRUCTIONS NOR A STANDARD; CODED TAXI RTE. HOWEVER ATIS INDICATED STANDARD TAXI ROUTES WERE IN USE; SO WE ASSUMED THE STANDARD RTE OF TXWY J; W; U; RWY 28; HOLD SHORT OF RWY 23L WOULD BE APPROPRIATE. AT A POINT ALONG THE TAXI RTE I SENSED THAT I HAD MISSED TXWY U SO I CONTINUED STRAIGHT AHEAD TO USE TXWY W TO ENTER RWY 28. AS I MADE THE TURN AND ENTERED THE RWY; GND CTL STATED; '...YOU'RE ON RWY 23L; TAXI STRAIGHT AHEAD AND BACK TAXI INTO POS ON RWY 23R.' ONLY THEN DID I REALIZE WHAT I HAD DONE. WHERE I THOUGHT I WAS EBOUND ON TXWY W TURNING ONTO THE TXWY ENTRANCE TO RWY 28; I WAS ACTUALLY NBOUND AT THE N END OF TXWY J TURNING ONTO WBOUND TXWY W. MY FO WAS FAIRLY NEW AT THE COMPANY AND THEREFORE UNFAMILIAR WITH THE FIELD. NOW I WAS/AM VERY FAMILIAR WITH CLEVELAND HOPKINS INTL AND ITS SPECIAL PROCS. I HAD OPERATED IN AND OUT OF THE FIELD PERHAPS 40-50 TIMES BEFORE. ALTHOUGH IT WAS DARK WITH POOR VISIBILITY; I BLAME NO ONE OTHER THAN MYSELF AND THE CONTRIBUTING FACTORS IN THIS INSTANCE. THE SOLE CONTRIBUTING FACTOR WAS A DEGRADATION OF HUMAN PERFORMANCE DUE TO A SEVERE LACK OF SLEEP. THE CARRIER HAS A TYPE OF TRIP CALLED A CONTINUOUS DUTY OVERNIGHT (CDO); IN WHICH THE CREW OPERATES THE LAST FLT OUT TO AN OUTSTATION; REMAIN ON DUTY AT A HOTEL FOR A SHORT OVERNIGHT; AND MAKE THE FIRST FLT BACK IN THE MORNING. FOR THIS CDO; SCHEDULED GND TIME (ACT ARR TO DEP TIME) IS 5 HRS 30 MINS. THE FLT IS SCHEDULED TO ARRIVE AT XA45. PROVIDED THE FLT IS NOT LATE; BY THE TIME WE GATHER OUR BAGS; DO AN ACFT POSTFLT INSPECTION; TAKE THE LONGER-THAN-AVERAGE WALK THROUGH THE TERMINAL; WAIT ON THE HOTEL SHUTTLE; RIDE 10-15 MINS; HOTEL CHK-IN; FIND THE ROOMS; GET CLEANED UP AND READY FOR BED; IT IS XB30-XB45. NOW WE HAVE TO BE UP BY XE00 TO DO THE REVERSE. THERE REALLY IS NO WAY TO PREPARE FOR THIS UNLESS THE BODY IS ACCUSTOMED TO 3 HRS OF SLEEP AT NIGHT. I BELIEVE THIS OP WITH SO LITTLE SLEEP IS UNSAFE. THIS BRUTAL LACK OF SLEEP DULLED MY SENSES; JUDGEMENTS; DECISION MAKING ABILITY AND OVERALL PERFORMANCE. WITH PROPER SCHEDULING; CDO'S ARE AN EFFICIENT USE OF CREW RESOURCES; HOWEVER; THEY SHOULD NEVER CONTAIN LESS THAN 7 HRS GND TIME.

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