A CORP ACFT CREW RPTS INCURRING MKE RWY 25L HOLD LINE ON RWY 13 BECAUSE THE HOLD SHORT LINE WAS NOT VISIBLE EVEN THOUGH THE CAPT WAS LOOKING FOR IT.
Synopsis
A CORP ACFT CREW RPTS INCURRING MKE RWY 25L HOLD LINE ON RWY 13 BECAUSE THE HOLD SHORT LINE WAS NOT VISIBLE EVEN THOUGH THE CAPT WAS LOOKING FOR IT.
Narrative
IN MKE WE WERE CLRED TO RWY 25L VIA TXWYS F; E; AND RWY 13. AS IT IS UNUSUAL TO TAXI DOWN A RWY WE ASKED GND FOR VERIFICATION. AGAIN OUR CLRNC WAS CONFIRMED. TAXI DOWN RWY 13 TO RWY 25L. ALL CHKLIST ITEMS WERE COMPLETED BY REACHING THE INTXN OF RWY 19L AND RWY 13. TO REACH RWY 25L YOU MUST MAKE A R TURN ON TXWY N. AS I WAS APCHING THE END OF RWY 13 I WAS TRYING TO LOCATE THE HOLD SHORT LINE AROUND THE CORNER ON TXWY N. I WAS AWARE OF THE DESIGNATED 'HOT SPOT' AND WAS TAXIING VERY SLOWLY TRYING TO FIND THE HOLD SHORT LINE WHERE I EXPECTED IT TO BE. I DID NOT SEE THE HOLD SHORT LINE ON RWY 13. WE CROSSED THE LINE BY LESS THAN THE LENGTH OF THE ACFT BEFORE TWR CALLED AND STOPPED US. OUR ACFT IS EQUIPPED WITH RAAS. THE HOLD SHORT LINE IS SO FAR FROM RWY 25L THAT WE DIDN'T GET A CALLOUT FROM THE RAAS THAT WE WERE APCHING RWY 25L. IT IS UNUSUAL TO USE A RWY AS A TXWY. IT IS ALSO UNUSUAL FOR A HOLD SHORT LINE TO BE ON A TXWY; OR A RWY; THAT DOES NOT INTERSECT THE DEP RWY. THESE MAY BE CONTRIBUTING FACTORS AS TO WHY I DID NOT SEE THE HOLD SHORT LINE ON RWY 13. AFTER A SUBSEQUENT PHONE CALL TO MKE TWR I LEARNED THAT THIS IS A MAJOR PROB FOR THEM. THEY HAVE TRIED TO GET CHANGES MADE TO ALLEVIATE THE PROB ALL TO NO AVAIL. ONE POSSIBLE AID TO ALLEVIATE THIS PROB MIGHT BE TO CHANGE THE WAY GND ISSUES CLRNCS. EXAMPLE 'ACFT XYZ TAXI TO RWY 25L VIA F; E; AND RWY 13 HOLD SHORT ON RWY 13.' OBVIOUSLY THE #1 CORRECTIVE ACTION WOULD BE TO STUDY THE TAXI CHART PRIOR TO TAXI. CALLBACK CONVERSATION WITH RPTR REVEALED THE FOLLOWING INFO: REPORTER STATED THAT THE CREW THOROUGHLY BRIEFED THE TAXI TO RWY 25L INCLUDING THE HOT SPOT ON RWY 13. AS THEY TAXIED ON RWY 13 THEY MISSED THE HOLD SHORT LINE AND SIGNS ON THE RWY EDGES. THE REPORTER BELIEVES THAT THE ARPT CHART INDICATING THE HOT SPOT AT THE INTERSECTION OF RWY 13 AND 25L MISLED THEM INTO BELIEVING THAT THE SIGNS WOULD BE FURTHER DOWN THE RWY. ADDITIONALLY HE STATED THAT BECAUSE THE RWY IS SO WIDE THE HOLD SIGNS ON THE RWY EDGES ARE DIFFICULT TO SEE AS THEY ARE RELATIVELY SMALL AND FAR AWAY. THE CONTROLLER WITH WHOM THE REPORTER SPOKE AFTER THE FACT SAID SO MANY INCURSIONS HAVE OCCURRED THAT GND CTLRS ARE SUPPOSED TO 'VERIFY THE HOLD SHORT SIGN IS IN SIGHT' BEFORE AN ACFT IS SWITCHED TO TOWER.
Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.