TXWY INCURSION AS THE PIC OF AN MD88 BECAME CONFUSED BY THE LACK OF SIGNAGE ON A NEW RAMP DURING TAXI TO RWY 1L AT MCI; MO.
Synopsis
TXWY INCURSION AS THE PIC OF AN MD88 BECAME CONFUSED BY THE LACK OF SIGNAGE ON A NEW RAMP DURING TAXI TO RWY 1L AT MCI; MO.
Narrative
TAXI OUT AT MCI. WE HAD RECENTLY MOVED OUR GATE AREAS. I WAS GIVEN TAXI CLRNC AS 'TAXI TO RWY 1L.' I STARTED THE TAXI; PLANNING TO USE TXWY M BECAUSE THE ACFT HAD BEEN PUSHED BACK AT AN ANGLE AND I HAD TO GO AROUND ANOTHER ACFT THAT WAS PARKED ON THE RAMP. AS I STARTED TO GO TO TXWY M; GND SAID 'ACR X; WHERE ARE YOU GOING?' I WAS CONCERNED BECAUSE I KNEW WHAT I WANTED TO DO; BUT GND HAD OTHER EXPECTATIONS. TO COMPOUND THE SIT; ANOTHER ACR WANTED TO COME DOWN TXWY M TO THEIR GATES AT TERMINAL. GND THEN SAID 'PULL OFF ON THE BRAVO HOLD PAD.' I LOOKED AT THE ARPT DIAGRAM AND COULDN'T FIND A BRAVO HOLD PAD AND I ASKED MY FO ABOUT THAT AND HE DIDN'T SEE ONE EITHER. I DID SEE A PIECE OF ASPHALT THAT HAD A BIG YELLOW 'X' ON IT NEAR THE TXWY B AND I USUALLY DON'T GO WHERE THERE ARE BIG YELLOW X'S. GND THEN SAID 'ACR X; WHAT ARE YOU DOING?' WE DIDN'T SAY ANYTHING BECAUSE WE WERE TRYING TO GET OUT OF THE WAY AT THIS POINT. I TURNED DOWN TXWY B. THEN GND FINALLY GAVE SOME DIRECTIONS AND SAID TO HOLD SHORT OF TXWY A9; WHICH WE DID; AND THEN WE TAXIED VIA TXWY A9; TXWY A TO RWY 1L. THE WHOLE MIX-UP COULD BE SUMMARIZED BY THE FACT THAT GND CTL HAD A CERTAIN EXPECTATION FROM US AND OFFERED NO HELP OTHER THAN ASKING 'WHAT ARE YOU DOING?' ANSWER: 'TAXIING' OR 'TO RWY 1L.' THERE IS A NEW RAMP AREA THAT IS OPEN WITH FEW MARKINGS OR CTL POINTS. I WAS JUST TRYING TO STAY ON MARKED TAXI LANES TO ENSURE WINGTIP CLRNC AND PREDICTABILITY. I'VE BEEN TO KANSAS CITY MANY TIMES; BUT WE DID CHANGE OUR GATE AREAS. THAT COULD HAVE THROWN ME OFF. I GUESS NEXT TIME I WILL ASK FOR A SPECIFIC RTE TO TAXI TO THE RWY.
Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.