2011-10 · NASA ASRS report 974660
A Captain lost his situational awareness and held short of a EWR runway on the incorrect taxiway after crossing the hold short line while the Tower Controller was attending to incoming and departing traffic.
The First Officer was the pilot flying for the approach for Runway 4R (ILS). Landed uneventfully took control at 60 KTS and exited onto high speed Taxiway J. Instructed to taxi P and E as this would expedite our waiting time for the alley and our gate. On the previous flight we had been instructed to taxi J to hold short 4L. The taxi instruction was read back by the First Officer and I in turn read it back to him. I had both VHF 1 on the Tower frequency and VHF 2 on the Apron frequency. I inadvertently missed the P Taxiway and continued on Taxiway J. The First Officer did not notice this deviation as he temporarily had his head down. Perhaps due to the radio chatter on both frequencies and our previous routing from earlier in the day; I temporarily lost my situational awareness. I became aware that I had missed the P Taxiway and started to focus on that. As a result of this temporary lack of focus I crossed the hold short line for Runway 4L. We immediately came to a full stop. I instructed the First Officer to tell the Tower we had missed the P Taxiway. One aircraft departed 4L before we were cleared across 4L on J to then taxi S and A to the gate. Tower indicated to us that Ground would have a number for us to call due to the PILOT DEVIATION FROM INSTRUCTION. I apologized for the mishap and provided all the necessary details that were asked of me. I was then instructed to notify the necessary parties involved. I subsequently called the Chief Pilot and left a message followed by a call to the Flight Duty Officer whom I explained the details of this situation. I was instructed to document what transpired in an email format. The root causes were: Temporary lack of situational awareness; focusing on missed taxi instruction; missed taxi instruction due to distraction of radio chatter on two frequencies and familiarity of the taxi instruction earlier in the day. The First Officer had his head down performing his after landing flow without being instructed to do so. This compounded the issue as we did not have two sets of eyes looking outside. The corrective actions I need to take: Minimize distractions while in critical phase of flight/taxi-only monitor one frequency at a time. If any doubt exists; bring aircraft to an immediate stop and clarify instruction. Ensure both crew members have their heads up looking outside during all critical phases.
Arriving Aircraft (X) landed on Runway 4R and exited at Taxiway Kilo. He was instructed to taxi via Papa and Echo; then Hold Short of Runway 4L. During the pilot read back; the pilot said the wrong runway nomenclature. The Controller immediately corrected the pilot's error and the pilot read back the correct runway nomenclature. The Tower Controller then cleared another aircraft for takeoff on Runway 4L. However; Aircraft X went past the HOLD BAR at Taxiway Kilo and advised the Tower of his position as the ASDEX alarm went off. Other factors: Traffic on final; an MD80; was getting close to minimum separation following a Heavy jet. Tower Controller tried to contact the MD80 twice inside an eight mile final. He also tried to get New York TRACON to switch the MD80 to the Tower. This situation on final took the Tower Controller's attention away from the runway environment when arriving Aircraft X went the wrong way. Aircraft X told the Tower he missed Taxiway Papa as the aircraft on Runway 4L was near V-1. This event happened because Aircraft X was confused about his position on the airport; he stated that '... he made a mistake and he takes responsibility for it '.The pilot of Aircraft X said this on the recorded telephone. Have a GPS device like Garmin or Tom Tom that shows the airport diagram. Then pilots could eliminate confusion by referring to it. Controllers try to expedite traffic; like Aircraft X in this situation. To prevent a re-occurrence of this incursion; a controller could stop the expedite technique. For example; when the pilot exits the arrival runway just let them sit where they are; the pilot will be less likely to make a mistake
Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.
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