A BEECH JET 400A PLT FALLS VICTIM TO PERCEPTUAL ILLUSIONS AND VISUAL INTERFERENCE AND REFUSED AN IMMEDIATE TKOF CLRNC DURING HIS ATTEMPTED DEP FROM ORD; IL.

Date: 2001-01 · Aircraft: Beechjet 400 · Phase: taxi

Anomalies: conflict-ground-conflict|less-severe|deviation-discrepancy-procedural-far|deviation-discrepancy-procedural-clearance|deviation-discrepancy-procedural-published-material-policy|ground-incursion-runway|other-visual-int

Synopsis

A BEECH JET 400A PLT FALLS VICTIM TO PERCEPTUAL ILLUSIONS AND VISUAL INTERFERENCE AND REFUSED AN IMMEDIATE TKOF CLRNC DURING HIS ATTEMPTED DEP FROM ORD; IL.

Narrative

ON JAN/WED/2002 AT XA35 I TAXIED OUT OF THE RAMP AREA AT O'HARE INTERNATIONAL. THE SNOW HAD JUST RECENTLY STOPPED AND TKOFS AND LNDGS WERE RESUMING. GND CTL INSTRUCTED ME TO FOLLOW AN ACR (ACFT Y) HVY TO RWY 22L. I EXITED THE RAMP ON TXWY D7. THE ACR (ACFT Y) JET TAXIED BY AND PROCEEDED ON TO TKOF IMMEDIATELY. I WAS STILL ON GND CTLR SO I WAS UNAWARE OF HIS TKOF RWY OR CLRNC. ONCE ON THE RWY 27L/22L PAD I COMPLETED MY TAXI CHECKS AND SWITCHED TO TWR. TWR IMMEDIATELY CALLED ME 'FLT X CLRED FOR TKOF; ACFT ON SHORT FINAL.' I LOOKED UP AND TRIED TO IDENTIFY MY EXACT POS ON THE PAD. DUE TO THE RECENT SNOWFALL AND DARKNESS; I COULD NOT CLRLY IDENTIFY THE PAD FROM D TXWY. NO SIGNS WERE VISIBLE; AND THE LONG PATH TO RWY 22L OBSCURED BY SNOW. FROM THE BEECHJET I WAS UNABLE TO POSITIVELY IDENTIFY THE RWY OR THE PATH TO IT. I LOOKED UP AND SAW AND APCHING AIRLINER ON A VERY SHORT FINAL. I MADE THE IMMEDIATE DECISION TO NOT ACCEPT THE TKOF CLRNC AND TOLD TWR. TWR IMMEDIATELY CALLED A GAR ON THE ACFT ON FINAL (ACFT Z). THEN THE ACFT BEHIND IT. THE ONLY LIGHTS I COULD MAKE OUT CLRLY WERE THE TXWY LIGHTS OF TXWY M TO MY RIGHT. I THEN HEARD A RADIO CALL SAYING; 'YOU ARE ON THE RWY; YOU CAN TURN AROUND RIGHT THERE.' KNOWING I WAS NOT ON THE RWY; BUT FOLLOWING THE INSTRUCTION GIVEN I MADE A RIGHT TURN AND MANEUVERED MYSELF ONTO THE RWY 27L PAD. THEN TWR CALLED TELLING ME TO HOLD IN PRESENT POS. I HELD IN MY PRESENT POS AND WATCHED TWO AIRLINERS DEPART. I COULD NOW MAKE OUT THE PATH TO RWY 22L. I NOTIFIED TWR THAT I WAS READY IN SEQUENCE; AND THEN WAS CLRED FOR TKOF. I WAS ABLE TO FOLLOW THE PATH THROUGH THE SNOW COVERED PAD AND FIND RWY 22L. THERE THE RWY WAS VISIBLE. WE WERE CLRED FOR TKOF AND NO FURTHER COMMENT WAS MADE. IT WAS EVIDENT THAT OHARE TWR WAS PUSHING TIE; TRYING TO MAKE UP TIME FOR CANCELLED OR DELAYED FLTS. WITH THE CURRENT TXWY CONDITIONS FROM A BEECHJET IT WAS NEARLY IMPOSSIBLE TO SEE RWY 22L FROM THE D HOLD SHORT LINE OR ABEAM TXWY M ON THE PAD. IN THE INTEREST OF SAFETY I HAD TO DENY THE TKOF CLRNC. I DID NOT HAVE ADEQUATE VISIBILITY; NOR TIME TO POS MYSELF AND ROLL WITH AN ACFT ON DANGEROUSLY SHORT FINAL. THE BIGGEST HAZARD OF THE EVENT; WAS NOT ONLY THE VISIBILITY; BUT THE CALL I RECEIVED ABOUT BEING ON THE RWY; AND THE INSTRUCTION I RECEIVED TO TURN ONTO THE PAD. THE SE CALLS DID NOT COME FROM THE TWR. COME TO FIND OUT THEY WERE COMING FROM AN IMPATIENT ACR (ACFT W) PLT BEHIND ME USING TWR FREQ TO TELL ME WHAT TO DO. FROM HIS COCKPIT HEIGHT; I IMAGINE HE COULD SEE THE PATH TO RWY 22L. BUT I HAD NOT PASSED TXWY M SO I WAS NOT ON THE RWY; AND I COULD CERTAINLY NOT SEE RWY 22L WHICH WAS AT LEAST 125 FT AHEAD OF ME. THE RAMP OF RWY 22L IS LISTED AS HS1 A TXWY HOT SPOT FOR INCURSIONS. ALTHOUGH I HAD BEEN CLRED FOR TKOF AND HAD THE RIGHT TO THE RWY I COULD NOT SEE IT OR THE PATH TO IT IN THESE WX CONDITIONS. PERHAPS DUE TO THE SNOW; OR MAYBE ALSO BECAUSE THE BEECHJET SITS SO LOW; REGARDLESS; THE SPACING GIVEN BY TWR WAS INADEQUATE; AND THE INSTRUCTIONS BY THE ACR FLT (ACFT W) ADDED TO THE CONFUSION.

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