MD88 RWY INCURSION ON THE APCH SEGMENT OF RWY 8 AT ELP. FLT CREW BLAMES POORLY MARKED HOLD SHORT LINE AT TXWY J.
Synopsis
MD88 RWY INCURSION ON THE APCH SEGMENT OF RWY 8 AT ELP. FLT CREW BLAMES POORLY MARKED HOLD SHORT LINE AT TXWY J.
Narrative
PUSHED BACK FROM GATE IN EL PASO. CALLED FOR TAXI AFTER STARTING #1 ENG. TWR INSTRUCTED US TO; 'TAXI TO RWY 8R VIA JULIET.' IT'S ALL TARMAC THERE WITH NO REAL TXWY MARKERS WE SAW FROM THE RAMP (SOUTH OF 8R). I WAS STARTING #2 ENG AND RUNNING THE TAXI AND BEFORE TKOF CHKLIST WHEN TWR/GND TOLD US TO 'HOLD OUR POSITION.' WE HAD TAXIED ONTO THE APCH SEGMENT OF 8R. THE HOLD SHORT LINE AT JULIET IS VERY POORLY MARKED AND OBSCURED BY RUBBER DEPOSITS AND OIL. LUCKILY THEY WERE LNDG RWY 22 AND ONLY USING RWY 8R FOR TKOF; AS WINDS WERE CALM. PERHAPS SOME SORT OF IN GND LIGHTING WOULD BE APPROPRIATE THERE. CALLBACK CONVERSATION WITH RPTR REVEALED THE FOLLOWING INFO: RPTR STATES THAT IT WAS DAYLIGHT WITH CLR WX WHEN THE RWY INCURSION OCCURRED. RPTR STATED THAT HE DID NOT SEE ANY SIGNS INDICATING A TXWY OR RWY; BUT THAT SINCE IT IS A SHORT DISTANCE FROM THE RAMP TO THE RWY 8R EXTENSION THEY MIGHT HAVE PASSED ANY SIGNS BEFORE THEY STARTED LOOKING FOR THE TXWY. RPTR ADVISED THAT HE AND THE CAPT WERE USING THE COMMERCIAL 10-9 ARPT DIAGRAM TO TRY AND FIGURE OUT WHERE TXWY J INTERSECTED THE S SIDE OF RWY 8R. RPTR STATED THAT THE ENTIRE AREA ADJACENT TO THE RWY 8R APCH SEGMENT IS VERY CONFUSING AND THAT THE RAMP; TXWYS AND RWYS HAVE A UNIFORM APPEARANCE.
Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.