An air carrier aircraft landed on Runway 15 and exited at Taxiway M but because the hold short lines for Runway 19 and 15 are so close large aircraft may not be clear of both runways at either hold short line.
Synopsis
An air carrier aircraft landed on Runway 15 and exited at Taxiway M but because the hold short lines for Runway 19 and 15 are so close large aircraft may not be clear of both runways at either hold short line.
Narrative
Upon exiting Runway 15 at DCA; we were instructed by Tower to hold short of Runway 19 at Taxiway M. The First Officer read back the instructions which I then repeated to him. The hold short line for 15 and 19 are extremely close together (there is insufficient room for larger aircraft to exit 15 fully and still remain short of 19 on Taxiway M). By the time I had acknowledged the hold short instructions we had cleared the first hold short line (exiting Runway 15); and about to cross the hold short line for Runway 19. I had confused this hold short line for the 15 hold short line; and passed the Runway 19 hold short line before realizing my error. ATC repeated the hold short instructions. Once clear of conflicting traffic; ATC cleared us to cross Runway 19 and taxi to the gate. My limited familiarity with DCA airport and high workload caused the momentary confusion which led to the incursion. The approach and runway exiting plan was briefed thoroughly during the approach briefing. We had the airport diagram to refer to and knew our taxi route; which included the 'Hot Spots' (one happens to be at taxiway M on the other side of Runway 19 (the terminal side). We still nevertheless managed to miss the hold short line; meaning that additional vigilance was needed. I would suggest A 'Hot Spot' or a note on the 10-9 airport diagram at Taxiway M between Runway 15/33 and 1/19 could provide an additional safety measure. Additionally; it should be noted that there is insufficient room for larger aircraft to exit 15 fully and still remain short of 19 on Taxiway M.
Second reporter narrative
We landed 15 in DCA; We were given instructions to exit at Mike Taxiway and hold short Runway 19. As we cleared Runway 15 the hold line for 19 and exit line for 15 are closely spaced together. Our aircraft length and close proximity of the hold short line of Runway 19 and exit on 15 on Mike caused our aircraft's nose to be slightly over the hold short line for 19. There was no go-around or aborted takeoff off 19 due to our runway incursion. I feel this area should be listed as a 'hot spot' and longer aircraft should continue rollout to the end of 15. If we had held short of 19 on Taxiway Mike; our tail would've have not cleared Runway 15 exit line therefore; 15 would still be considered as having an aircraft on an active runway.
Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.