A C525 CLEARED THE RUNWAY AFTER LANDING BY TURNING ONTO ANOTHER ACTIVE RUNWAY; CAUSING AN AIRCRAFT THAT WAS CLEARED FOR TAKEOFF TO ABORT.
Synopsis
A C525 CLEARED THE RUNWAY AFTER LANDING BY TURNING ONTO ANOTHER ACTIVE RUNWAY; CAUSING AN AIRCRAFT THAT WAS CLEARED FOR TAKEOFF TO ABORT.
Narrative
THE INCIDENT OCCURRED AS I WAS ROLLING TO A STOP AFTER LNDG ON RWY X AT ZZZ; WHICH IS AN ARPT I HAD NOT VISITED RECENTLY. AS I APCHED THE POINT WHERE RWY X CROSSES RWY Y; I AM ADVISED THAT I RECEIVED THE FOLLOWING INSTRUCTION FROM ATC; 'CONTINUE THROUGH THE INTXN; SAY FBO.' I INTERPRETED THIS INSTRUCTION; AS I GAVE THE FBO NAME TO THE CTLR; TO MEAN; 'TAKE THE NEXT INTXN OFF THE RWY AND PROCEED TO THE FBO.' UNFORTUNATELY; THE NEXT INTXN; INTO WHICH I TURNED; WAS RWY Y ON WHICH AN ACFT HAD JUST BEEN CLRED TO TAKE OFF. THE CONFLICT THUS GENERATED CAUSED THE INCIDENT. I RECOLLECT HEARING THE CTLR TELLING THE OTHER ACFT TO ABORT BUT NOT THE XMISSION TELLING THE OTHER ACFT THAT IT WAS CLRED FOR TKOF. I WAS AWARE THAT BOTH RWYS X AND Y WERE IN USE. AS SOON AS I TURNED L OFF RWY X I REALIZED THAT I WAS ON RWY Y; BUT BY THIS TIME IT WAS TOO LATE TO TURN BACK AND; IN ANY EVENT; I THOUGHT MY INSTRUCTIONS WERE TO PROCEED IN THIS WAY; VACATING RWY X AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. CONTRIBUTING FACTORS TO THIS INCIDENT WERE DIFFICULT WX CONDITIONS AT ZZZ. THE ARPT HAD BEEN CLOSED THE PREVIOUS DAY AS A RESULT OF HVY SNOW AND AS A RESULT IT WAS EXCEPTIONALLY BUSY. WHEN I ARRIVED; THERE WAS A GUSTY WIND WHICH MADE LNDG RELATIVELY AWKWARD; AS A RESULT OF WHICH I USED RATHER MORE OF RWY X FOR THE LNDG ROLL THAN I WOULD NORMALLY HAVE DONE. THERE WAS STILL A LARGE AMOUNT OF SNOW AND ICE ON THE GND; INCLUDING ON MANY OF THE TXWYS; MAKING IT HARDER THAN USUAL TO DISTINGUISH BTWN TXWYS AND RWYS. THERE WAS A SUBSTANTIAL AMOUNT OF ACTIVITY ON THE FIELD AND NON-STOP USE OF THE TWR FREQ. ONCE I HAD TURNED OFF RWY X; THE TWR CTLR EVIDENTLY REALIZED PROMPTLY THAT THERE WAS A POTENTIAL CONFLICT AS A RESULT OF MY ACFT BEING ON RWY Y. I WAS TOLD BY THE CTLR TO VACATE THE RWY ASAP AND TO CONTACT THE TWR BY PHONE AS SOON AS I COULD DO SO TO DISCUSS WHAT HAD HAPPENED AND TO INITIATE ANY RPTING ACTION WHICH MIGHT BE NECESSARY. I SPOKE TO THE SUPVR WHO WAS EXCEPTIONALLY COURTEOUS AND HELPFUL. WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN DONE BETTER TO AVOID THIS SIT OCCURRING? I APPRECIATE THAT THE TWR CTLR WAS VERY BUSY; BUT I DO BELIEVE THAT THE INSTRUCTION I WAS GIVEN WHICH LED TO MY TURNING ONTO RWY 1 WAS VERY AMBIGUOUS. THERE ARE 7 INTXNS ALTOGETHER ON RWY X; THE 5TH BEING RWY Y. IT WAS NOT AT ALL CLR THAT 'CONTINUE THROUGH THE INTXN;' THE INSTRUCTION WHICH I RECEIVED WHEN I WAS AT ABOUT INTXN L; REFERRED SPECIFICALLY TO THE INTXN BTWN RWY X AND RWY Y AND NOT TO INTXNS GENERALLY; WHICH USUALLY INVOLVE TURNING OFF THE ACTIVE RWY. I AM SURE THAT THE INCIDENT WOULD NOT HAVE HAPPENED IF THE INSTRUCTION I HAD RECEIVED HAD BEEN 'CONTINUE TO THE END OF THE RWY' OR 'CROSS RWY Y BEFORE VACATING RWY X.' AGAIN; I UNDERSTAND THE PRESSURE WHICH EVERYONE WAS UNDER AT ZZZ AT THE TIME OF THE INCIDENT; BUT IT ALSO SEEMS TO ME TO HAVE BEEN WRONG TO HAVE CLRED THE ACFT ON RWY Y FOR TKOF BEFORE I WAS CLR OF THE NORTHERN END OF THIS RWY. A FEW MOMENTS' DELAY WOULD HAVE BEEN ENSURED THAT I WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN ON RWY Y; EITHER AS A RESULT OF MY XING IT HAVING BEEN COMPLETED AS THE CTLR OBVIOUSLY INTENDED SHOULD HAPPEN; OR MY TAXIING OFF RWY Y ONTO TXWY B; WHICH WOULD HAVE TAKEN ONLY A FEW SECONDS LONGER.
Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.