Narrative:

Taxiing from the ramp on northeast side of airfield we called metering who informed us to monitor ground. After monitoring ground frequency; ground control asked us (what we understood to be) could you accept 22R at intersection mike; 6000 plus feet available for departure. After reviewing the airport chart we informed ground we could accept that. They told us to taxi victor to mike for (what we understood to be) a 22R intersection departure. We acknowledged the clearance and read back 22R intersection mike. After making a right turn on mike for runway 22R we were told to monitor tower. While holding short of runway 22R at mike; tower instructed us to line up and wait (what we understood to be) runway 22R at intersection mike. We read back taxi into position and hold runway 22R at mike. While completing the before takeoff checks we taxied onto runway 22R at mike and held. Tower then informed us that we should be on runway 32R and asked us to taxi down 22R and back taxi on 32R; we were confused and asked for clarification; tower replied with the instructions again to taxi down 22R to the intersection of 32R and back taxi to mike. We did as instructed and as we taxied onto 32R tower asked if we were ready for takeoff of which we replied yes. Tower cleared us for takeoff on 32R and the rest of the departure was uneventful.based off the ATIS we were expecting a departure from runway 22L or 28; when ground asked if we could accept 22R it sounded plausible and after reviewing the chart it made sense; at no time did we question that we were taxiing to the wrong runway based on the information we had. The taxi route and layout of the airfield makes it very easy to mistake a taxi to 22R from 32R especially when departing from ramp. Mike taxiway leads to intersections on runway 32R and 22R with almost the same length of runway remaining. Although ground surveillance radar was being used ground control did not advise us of our error when we turned the wrong direction on mike. Tower also cleared us to line up and wait without visual or radar confirmation of our true location. Tower recognized our error only after we were on the wrong runway. The final factor was night operations making visual contact from the tower more difficult.ground control taxi instructions could have included a left turn on mike allowing more clarification of which direction to go. Emphasis on runway numbers that sound similar especially when the same taxiway (mike) leads to both runways. Once the crew heard and understood they were cleared to runway 22R they never heard or understood anything different. Likewise the ground controller and the tower controller were expecting a read back of 32R and must not have heard anything different even though the crew read back 22R.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A Challenger jet flight crew reports receiving a clearance to taxi at ORD via V and M to Runway 32R at intersection M. What the crew hears and reads back several times is to taxi V and M to Runway 22R. The error is not noticed until the crew is cleared to line up and wait on Runway 32R at M and the aircraft is detected by the Tower on Runway 22R.

Narrative: Taxiing from the ramp on NE side of airfield we called metering who informed us to monitor ground. After monitoring ground frequency; ground control asked us (what we understood to be) could you accept 22R at intersection mike; 6000 plus feet available for departure. After reviewing the airport chart we informed ground we could accept that. They told us to Taxi Victor to Mike for (what we understood to be) a 22R intersection departure. We acknowledged the clearance and read back 22R intersection Mike. After making a right turn on Mike for RWY 22R we were told to monitor tower. While holding short of RWY 22R at Mike; tower instructed us to line up and wait (what we understood to be) RWY 22R at intersection Mike. We read back taxi into position and hold RWY 22R at Mike. While completing the Before Takeoff checks we taxied onto RWY 22R at Mike and held. Tower then informed us that we should be on RWY 32R and asked us to taxi down 22R and back taxi on 32R; We were confused and asked for clarification; Tower replied with the instructions again to taxi down 22R to the intersection of 32R and back taxi to Mike. We did as instructed and as we taxied onto 32R tower asked if we were ready for takeoff of which we replied yes. Tower cleared us for takeoff on 32R and the rest of the departure was uneventful.Based off the ATIS we were expecting a departure from RWY 22L or 28; when ground asked if we could accept 22R it sounded plausible and after reviewing the chart it made sense; at no time did we question that we were taxiing to the wrong runway based on the information we had. The taxi route and layout of the airfield makes it very easy to mistake a taxi to 22R from 32R especially when departing from ramp. Mike taxiway leads to intersections on RWY 32R and 22R with almost the same length of RWY remaining. Although ground surveillance radar was being used ground control did not advise us of our error when we turned the wrong direction on Mike. Tower also cleared us to line up and wait without visual or radar confirmation of our true location. Tower recognized our error only after we were on the wrong RWY. The final factor was night operations making visual contact from the tower more difficult.Ground control taxi instructions could have included a left turn on Mike allowing more clarification of which direction to go. Emphasis on runway numbers that sound similar especially when the same taxiway (Mike) leads to both runways. Once the crew heard and understood they were cleared to runway 22R they never heard or understood anything different. Likewise the ground controller and the tower controller were expecting a read back of 32R and must not have heard anything different even though the crew read back 22R.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.