A DEADHEADING PLT RPTS THAT THE PLTS FLYING A CRJ700 TAXIED ON TO ORD TXWY Q. ACFT LANDED OVER THEM. AN ARPT CHART NOTE RESTRICTS TXWY Q FOR TAXI.
Synopsis
A DEADHEADING PLT RPTS THAT THE PLTS FLYING A CRJ700 TAXIED ON TO ORD TXWY Q. ACFT LANDED OVER THEM. AN ARPT CHART NOTE RESTRICTS TXWY Q FOR TAXI.
Narrative
ACFT CHANGE TO CRJ. READY RESERVE CREW FLYING. I WAS A DEADHEADING CREW MEMBER. WE TAXIED OUT FOR RWY 22L AT ORD. IT WAS NOT A SMOOTH TAXI. WE WERE ON TXWY M AND WE TOOK WHAT I THOUGHT WAS A POS AND HOLD FOR RWY 22L. THE STOP WAS ABRUPT. IT WAS ONLY WHEN THE AIRPLANE LNDG ON RWY 27L CAME OVERHEAD THAT I REALIZED THAT WE MUST BE ON TXWY Q JUST SHORT OF THE THRESHOLD OF RWY 27L. AFTER THE PLANE LANDED OVER OUR HEADS; WE THEN TAXIED ON TXWY Q TO RWY 22L TO EXIT AND THEN TURNED AROUND TO TAXI BACK ACROSS RWY 27L. I DON'T KNOW WHO THE PF OR PNF WAS. LOOK AT THE TOTAL TIME OF BOTH PLTS HERE. FO IS BRAND NEW; HAD NOT COMPLETED HIS CONSOLIDATION. JUST BECAUSE IT IS LEGAL TO PAIR 2 PLTS WITH EXTREMELY LOW TIMES IN THE PLANE AND COMPANY; DOESN'T MEAN IT IS SAFE OR SMART. WHY DO WE HAVE TO PAIR PEOPLE WITH THIS LOW TIME? IF THE ANSWER IS ECONOMIC NECESSITY; I WOULD GUESS A HULL LOSS WOULD MAKE THAT ARGUMENT GO AWAY. OTHER AIRLINES MAKE SURE THAT LOW TIME GUYS GET A NON-RESERVE SCHEDULE AFTER TRAINING SO THAT THEY GET UP TO SPD MORE QUICKLY. SOME OTHER AIRLINES ALSO PAIR THESE LOW TIME GUYS WITH A CHK AIRMAN SOME TIME IN THEIR FIRST FEW MONTHS TO ENSURE THAT THEY ARE UP TO SPD AND DOING A GOOD JOB. I SPOKE WITH THE CAPT ON THE VAN RIDE TO THE HOTEL AND HE DID CONFIRM THAT HE WAS 'A LITTLE LOST' AND ON TXWY Q. A LITTLE LOST IS NOT AN ACCEPTABLE POS. YES; PEOPLE SHOULD HAVE THEIR TAXI CHARTS OUT; AND YES; IF YOU ARE LOST; YOU SHOULD STOP AND FIGURE OUT WHERE YOU ARE; BUT SCHEDULING PRESSURE; 45 MINS OR LESS FOR A PLT WHO IS NEW TO THE COMPANY; NEW TO THE PLANE AND UNFAMILIAR WITH ORD TO GET THE CALL FROM CREW SCHEDULING; GET OUT TO A COLD AIRPLANE; DO THEIR PREFLT AND STILL TRY TO MAKE THEIR DEP TIME IS UNREALISTIC. JUST BECAUSE LOTS OF PEOPLE HAVE DONE IT DOESN'T MEAN IT IS SAFE. CALLBACK CONVERSATION WITH RPTR REVEALED THE FOLLOWING INFO: RPTR AMPLIFIED ON HIS ORIGINAL RPT AND STATED THAT THE CREW TAXIED DOWN RWY 22L; EXITED AT S4 AND ULTIMATELY BACK TO THE APCH END OF RWY 22L. ADDITIONALLY; HE DISCOVERED THAT THE FLT'S CAPT HAD JUST RECENTLY BEEN CHKED OUT ON THIS ACFT. HE ALSO JUST RECENTLY UPGRADED TO CAPT. THE RPTR ALSO STATED THAT THE NEW HIRE FO IS VERY LOW TIME AND JUST RECENTLY CHKED OUT ON THIS ACFT AND IS BASED AT ANOTHER ARPT. THE RPTR IS CONCERNED ABOUT PAIRING 2 LOW TIME PLTS TOGETHER AND ADDITIONALLY A LOW TIME CAPT WITH VERY LOW TIME FO. SUPPLEMENTAL INFO FROM ACN 703688: I MISTAKENLY TAXIED ON THE WRONG TXWY. IT WAS NIGHT AND THE TAXI SIGNS WERE HARD TO READ OR NON EXISTENT. THE ARPT CHART IS DIFFICULT TO READ; ESPECIALLY IN A SMALL AREA SUCH AS THE TXWY M; D Q; HOLDING AREA OF RWY 22L. THE CHART IS VERY DIFFICULT TO READ AT NIGHT. WE WERE NOT EXPECTING A QUICK CLRNC ONTO THE RWY AND THE FO WAS HURRYING THE CHKLISTS WITH HIS HEAD DOWN INSIDE THE COCKPIT. THE LAST MIN CHANGE OF CLRNC TO TXWY M7 TO TXWY M WAS A DISTR AND PUT ME IN A SITUATION I WAS UNFAMILIAR WITH -- ESPECIALLY AT NIGHT. I KNEW ALMOST RIGHT AWAY THAT WE WERE ON THE WRONG TXWY. THE SITUATION SEEMED ODD AND I KNEW I WAS ON AN UNFAMILIAR TXWY. IT JUST DID NOT SEEM RIGHT WHICH IS WHY I STOPPED AND HAD THE FO CONTACT TWR. BESIDES; RWY 22L SHOULD HAVE BEEN RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME AND IT WASN'T. THAT WAS A BIG INDICATOR THAT I TURNED TOO EARLY. TWR DID NOT SEEM TOO CONCERNED. I; HOWEVER; WAS EMBARRASSED. SUPPLEMENTAL INFO FROM ACN 703689: I BELIEVE THE EVENT OCCURRED BECAUSE OF CAPT UNFAMILIARITY WITH THAT PORTION OF THE AIRFIELD AT NIGHT; POOR TXWY SIGNAGE; AND ME; THE FO; WITH MY ATTN INSIDE THE COCKPIT PERFORMING THE BEFORE TKOF CHKLIST ITEMS.
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Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.