B737-700. THE FAA ATCT GND CTLR AND THE COMPANY RAMP CTLR HAD NO INTERFAC COORD WITH ACFT GOING TO THE GATE.

Date: 2003-12 · Aircraft: B737-700 · Phase: taxi

Anomalies: ground-incursion-taxiway

Synopsis

B737-700. THE FAA ATCT GND CTLR AND THE COMPANY RAMP CTLR HAD NO INTERFAC COORD WITH ACFT GOING TO THE GATE.

Narrative

WE CLRED RWY 19L IN LAS AT TXWY W. GND DIRECTED US TO TAXI VIA TXWY D; TXWY G TO THE RAMP. ON TXWY D; WE FOLLOWED THE LIGHTED SIGNAGE ONTO WHAT I THOUGHT TO BE TXWY G. IT WAS LIGHTED WITH GREEN CTRLINE AND BLUE EDGE LIGHTS AND WAS OPEN. IT WAS ALSO AT WHAT APPEARED TO BE THE REVERSE 45 DEG ANGLE ON OUR 10-9 PAGE. HOWEVER; IT WAS NOT TXWY G; IT WAS TXWY Z -- A TXWY NOT ON OUR 10-9'S AS OF THIS DATE. I CALLED GND AND TOLD THEM WHERE WE WERE; ON TXWY Z HEADING BACK TOWARDS TXWY W. GND SAID NO PROB AND DIRECTED US TO TAXI STRAIGHT AHEAD; GO L ON TXWY W AND CONTACT RAMP CTL. AS I TURNED L (E) ON TXWY W; WE DIALED IN RAMP CTL. I WAS PROCEEDING SLOWLY (LESS THAN 10 KTS) ON TXWY W TOWARD TXWY G AND SPOT X. THE RAMP CTL FREQ WAS VERY BUSY AND IT TOOK US TIME TO BREAK IN FOR INSTRUCTIONS. IN THE MEANTIME; I WAS PROCEEDING. I SAW ANOTHER CARRIER ACFT UNDER TOW TO THE N OF SPOT X BY AN ESTIMATED 300 FT AND I ALSO SAW A DC9/MD80 TYPE ACFT TO OUR R ABOUT 2000 FT AWAY ON TXWY G POINTED NW TOWARDS US BUT NOT REALLY MOVING. AS IF THEY WERE WAITING TO MOVE THROUGH TXWY G. I WAS JUST W OF SPOT X. RAMP'S FIRST XMISSION TO US WAS 'YELLING' 'COMPANY NUMBER; YOU SHOULD HAVE HELD SHORT OF TXWY G!' I STOPPED US SMOOTHLY AT SPOT X ABOUT 200 FT FROM THE OTHER CARRIER UNDER TOW AND STILL ABOUT 2000 FT FROM THE DC9 TYPE. NOW NO ONE WAS MOVING AND I WAS BLOCKING TXWY G AND DID NOT HAVE CLRNC INTO THE RAMP. RAMP THEN TOLD US TO CONTINUE AND GAVE THEM OUR 'NUMBERS.' I THEN QUERIED HIM AS TO WHAT EXACTLY HE MEANT BY OUR 'NUMBERS;' OUR CALL SIGN; OUR FLT NUMBER; A PHONE NUMBER; WHAT? I GAVE HIM OUR CALL SIGN AND GATE ASSIGNMENT AND HE CLRED US TO THE GATE. I CALLED RAMP CTL AND TALKED TO THEM ABOUT THE EVENT. I THOUGHT THE GND CTL HAD COORDINATED WITH RAMP AND WE WERE GOING THROUGH SPOT X TO THE GATE. THIS WAS NOT THE CASE; I GUESS THEY DO NOT TALK. THE RAMP CTLR I SPOKE TO SAID ACFT COMING FROM WHERE WE WERE USUALLY HOLD SHORT OF TXWY G ON TXWY W. THE FACT THAT WE HAD JUST COME OFF OF A TXWY THAT IS NOT ON ANY MAPS AND THAT GND WAS HANDLING BOTH RWY 25 AND RWY 19 ARRS COMPLICATED THIS SIT. GND NEVER GAVE US HOLD SHORT INSTRUCTIONS AND PASSED US TO RAMP WHILE WE WERE STILL OUT OF RAMP'S DOMAIN. I DID DISAGREE WITH HIS ACCUSATION THAT I JUST 'CUT OFF THE DC9' AS WE OPERATED SAFELY THROUGH EVERYONE. I ASSUMED THAT SINCE NO ONE WAS MOVING; THEY WERE WAITING FOR US TO MOVE THROUGH SPOT X; SO THEY COULD TOO. MY ASSUMPTION WAS A FACTOR HERE ALSO. TO PREVENT RECURRENCE; I WILL OPERATE EVEN MORE CAUTIOUSLY AROUND TRANSITION AREAS BTWN LAS GND AND RAMP CTL AND NOT ASSUME THAT THEY ARE COORDINATING ACTIONS. UP-TO-DATE 10-9'S ARE NOT ALWAYS POSSIBLE; BUT THIS NEW TXWY WE DISCOVERED AT LAS NEEDS TO BE ON THE MAP AND INCLUDED IN THE SIGNAGE ON THE GND.

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