AN AIR CARRIER CREW CROSSES AN ACTIVE RWY WITHOUT CLRNC WHEN THEY MISS A TURN TO A POORLY MARKED TXWY THAT RAN PARALLEL TO THE RWY.

Date: 2001-05 · Aircraft: A320 · Phase: taxi

Anomalies: aircraft-equipment-problem-less-severe|deviation-discrepancy-procedural-clearance|ground-incursion-runway

Synopsis

AN AIR CARRIER CREW CROSSES AN ACTIVE RWY WITHOUT CLRNC WHEN THEY MISS A TURN TO A POORLY MARKED TXWY THAT RAN PARALLEL TO THE RWY.

Narrative

WE WERE LEAVING PHL :24 LATE; I HAD BEEN TO PHL ONCE IN THE LAST TWO YEARS. OUT PUSHBACK AND ENGINE START WERE 'NORMAL.' WE WERE TOLD BY GND TO TAXI TO RWY 27L VIA THE RAMP; H;E; AND HOLD SHORT OF RWY 27R. I SAW THE TAXI ROUTE AND THE FO WAS TAKING A VERY LONG LOOK A THE 10-9 CHART BECAUSE HE HAD NEVER HAD TAXI INSTRUCTIONS FROM OUR ALLEYWAY LIKE THIS. WE STARTED OUR TAXI AND I LOOKED AT THE BRAKE TEMPS AND I WAS THINKING OF USING THE R BRAKE ONLY SINCE THE L TEMPS WERE HIGHER AND WE WERE HEAVY AND HAD A LONG TAXI TO GO. AS WE APPROACHED TXWY H ON THE RAMP; THERE WAS A 737-700 WAITING FOR US TO COME AROUND THE CORNER AND TURN ONTO TXWY H. AS WE ROUNDED THE CORNER I WAS LOOKING OUT TO MAKE SURE WE HAD WINGTIP CLRNC. TXWY E IS A QUICK TURN AFTER GETTING ONTO TXWY H AND WHEN I LOOKED OUT; WE WERE LOOKING AT HOLD SHORT LINES FOR RWY 17/35. I ASKED THE FO IF WE ARE CLEAR TO CROSS ALL RWYS WITH A TAXI CLRNC. AT THIS POINT I CLRED THE FINALS FOR THE RWYS AND CROSSED THE RWY. I DID SLOW BEFORE CROSSING AND HAD A SINKING FEELING THERE IN MY STOMACH. I HAVE TOLD MYSELF BEFORE; THAT IN THAT SITUATION; I WOULD STOP AND STRAIGHTEN THINGS OUT. I DON'T KNOW WHY I DID NOT. FACTORS LOW TAXI EXPERIENCE; NOT REALIZING HOW QUICK THE TURN TO TXWY E WOULD COME UP; AND GIVING TOO MUCH ATTENTION TO THE B737. SUPPLEMENTAL INFO FROM ACN 511237: ASSIGNED TO TAXI J;H;E; HOLD SHORT RWY 27R. MISSED THE E TXWY; BELIEVED D WAS E AND CROSSED RWY 17/35 WITHOUT CLRNC. 1)CAPT ON FIRST TRIP AFTER IOE AND FO UNFAMILIAR WITH TAXI ROUTING. 2) HAD CHARTS OUT AND THOROUGHLY REVIEWED THE ROUTING BEFORE TAXI. EVEN DISCUSSED USING TXWY S TO GET TO RWY 27L FOR TAKEOFF. 3) FO MONITORED TURN ON H THEN WENT HEADS DOWN WITH CO-PILOT DUTIES. 4) FO CAME HEADS UP TO HELP FIND R TURN ON E; BUT E WAS ALREADY BEHIND US. 5) BOTH PLTS CHANNELED SCAN TO FIND E AND MUTUALLY AGREED WE COULD CROSS RWY 17 TO GET TO RWY 27R. 6) FO SHOULD HAVE PREVENTED INCIDENT AND DID NOT. 7) REVIEW OF TAXI INSTRUCTIONS SHOULD SPECIFICALLY INCLUDE CROSSING INTERVENING RWYS 8. IF INTERVENING RWYS WERE NOT PART OF THE REVIEW (AS IN THIS CASE); STOP!! CALLBACK CONVERSATION WITH RPTR REVEALED THE FOLLOWING INFO: THE RPTR; WHO IS A NEW CAPT WITH LIMITED EXPERIENCE; SAID THAT HE WAS PAYING TOO MUCH ATTENTION TO CLEARING THE ACFT WAITING ON THE RAMP FOR HIM TO PASS AND NOT ON THE TAXI ROUTE. THE TXWY HAS NON STANDARD SURFACE PAINTED SIGNS; INCLUDING HOLD SHORT LINES AND DIRECTIONAL SIGNS; WHICH CONTRIBUTED TO LESSENING HIS SITUATIONAL AWARENESS. THE FO WAS USING THE ACARS AT THE TIME TO RETRIEVE PERFORMANCE AND LOADING NUMBERS. AFTER THE INCIDENT OCCURRED; THE ATCT LOCAL CTLR APPROVED CONTINUING ON TXWY H TO THE END OF THE RWY. THERE WAS NO TFC CONFLICT EVEN THROUGH THE RWY THAT WAS CROSSED WITHOUT CLRNC WAS ACTIVE.

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