Flight crew of medium large transport taxied on taxiway limited to less than their gross weight.

Attributes
ACN	147965
Time
Date	199006
Day	Fri
Local Time Of Day	1201 To 1800
Place
Locale Reference	airport : grr
State Reference	MI
Altitude	agl bound lower : 0 agl bound upper : 0
Environment
Flight Conditions	Mixed
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Controlling Facilities	tower : fwa
Operator	common carrier : air carrier
Make Model Name	Medium Large Transport, Low Wing, 2 Turbojet Eng
Flight Phase	ground other : taxi
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Affiliation	company : air carrier
Function	flight crew : first officer
Qualification	pilot : instrument pilot : commercial pilot : atp
Experience	flight time last 90 days : 150 flight time total : 3200 flight time type : 300
ASRS Report	147965
Person 2
Affiliation	company : air carrier
Function	flight crew : captain oversight : pic
Qualification	pilot : instrument pilot : atp pilot : commercial
Events
Anomaly	other anomaly other
Independent Detector	other flight crewa
Resolutory Action	none taken : anomaly accepted
Consequence	Other
Supplementary
Primary Problem	Flight Crew Human Performance
Air Traffic Incident	Pilot Deviation
Situations
Airport	other physical facility

Narrative:

On taxi out from our gate we were cleared to taxi to runway 26L. We took txwys V and B because they looked to be the quickest. Taxiway V looked awfully small but a quick glance at the chart and the entrance to the taxiway didn't show any signs of not being open to us. Upon close inspection of the plate I noticed that txwys V and B were closed to aircraft over 40000 pounds. The ground controller did not say anything to us but it was a bad move to leap before looking. I had never been to grand rapids before and the captain had not been there in awhile. The txwys are situated so that they are very convenient to our ramp, so the mistake could happen to another crew. It would be nice to have a sign on the entrance to V prohibiting aircraft over 40000 pounds and ground were to specify the route to take to runway 26L. I generally look for a lot of things when going into a new airport, but this wasn't one of them. It will be now.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: FLT CREW OF MLG TAXIED ON TXWY LIMITED TO LESS THAN THEIR GROSS WEIGHT.

Narrative: ON TAXI OUT FROM OUR GATE WE WERE CLRED TO TAXI TO RWY 26L. WE TOOK TXWYS V AND B BECAUSE THEY LOOKED TO BE THE QUICKEST. TXWY V LOOKED AWFULLY SMALL BUT A QUICK GLANCE AT THE CHART AND THE ENTRANCE TO THE TXWY DIDN'T SHOW ANY SIGNS OF NOT BEING OPEN TO US. UPON CLOSE INSPECTION OF THE PLATE I NOTICED THAT TXWYS V AND B WERE CLOSED TO ACFT OVER 40000 LBS. THE GND CTLR DID NOT SAY ANYTHING TO US BUT IT WAS A BAD MOVE TO LEAP BEFORE LOOKING. I HAD NEVER BEEN TO GRAND RAPIDS BEFORE AND THE CAPT HAD NOT BEEN THERE IN AWHILE. THE TXWYS ARE SITUATED SO THAT THEY ARE VERY CONVENIENT TO OUR RAMP, SO THE MISTAKE COULD HAPPEN TO ANOTHER CREW. IT WOULD BE NICE TO HAVE A SIGN ON THE ENTRANCE TO V PROHIBITING ACFT OVER 40000 LBS AND GND WERE TO SPECIFY THE RTE TO TAKE TO RWY 26L. I GENERALLY LOOK FOR A LOT OF THINGS WHEN GOING INTO A NEW ARPT, BUT THIS WASN'T ONE OF THEM. IT WILL BE NOW.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2007 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.