Air carrier flight crew reported that when returning to the gate at san to remove a pitot cover; the...

Attributes
ACN	1491824
Time
Date	201710
Local Time Of Day	0601-1200
Place
Locale Reference	SAN.Airport
State Reference	CA
Environment
Light	Dawn
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Large Transport Low Wing 2 Turbojet Eng
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Taxi
Flight Plan	IFR
Component
Aircraft Component	Pitot-Static System
Person 1
Function	Captain Pilot Flying
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Experience	Flight Crew Total 10030
Person 2
Function	First Officer Pilot Not Flying
Experience	Flight Crew Type 1094
Events
Anomaly	Aircraft Equipment Problem Less Severe Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy

Narrative:

Taxi out in normal low visibility. Prior to taking runway; the aircraft behind us reported we had a streamer hanging on the left side of tail. Had to return to gate; elevator feel pitot cover on left side not removed after wash. Cleaning crew and maintenance both missed this. Mrd (maintenance release document) showed covers installed and removed. Visibility near zero on ramp when first officer performed [the] walk around. On taxi back; entered runway 27 for back taxi. Instructed to exit at D then join B. D is a reverse high-speed. There is no signage when heading west; no taxi lead off line. It requires a 140-degree turn. In the dark and fog; misjudged the turn and not able to see that I would not be able to complete turn until my lights pointed south. Stopped aircraft; did not think I could turn right with runway lights proximity or continue left with the non-movement area. I was coordinating for a tug when airport operations came out and said we were good to complete turn.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Air Carrier flight crew reported that when returning to the gate at SAN to remove a pitot cover; they encountered difficulty finding Delta Taxiway in the fog due to lack of signage and a lead-in line when coming off Runway 27.

Narrative: Taxi out in normal low visibility. Prior to taking runway; the aircraft behind us reported we had a streamer hanging on the left side of tail. Had to return to gate; elevator feel pitot cover on left side not removed after wash. Cleaning crew and Maintenance both missed this. MRD (Maintenance Release Document) showed covers installed and removed. Visibility near zero on ramp when First Officer performed [the] walk around. On taxi back; entered Runway 27 for back taxi. Instructed to exit at D then join B. D is a reverse high-speed. There is no signage when heading west; no taxi lead off line. It requires a 140-degree turn. In the dark and fog; misjudged the turn and not able to see that I would not be able to complete turn until my lights pointed south. Stopped aircraft; did not think I could turn right with runway lights proximity or continue left with the non-movement area. I was coordinating for a tug when Airport Operations came out and said we were good to complete turn.

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.

Air carrier flight crew reported that when returning to the gate at san to remove a pitot cover; they encountered difficulty finding delta taxiway in the fog due to lack of signage and a lead-in line when coming off runway 27.