Flight crew of medium large transport taxied on wrong taxiway at phl.

Attributes
ACN	190398
Time
Date	199109
Day	Thu
Local Time Of Day	1801 To 2400
Place
Locale Reference	airport : phl
State Reference	PA
Altitude	agl bound lower : 0 agl bound upper : 0
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Night
Aircraft 1
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 : captain oversight : pic
Qualification	pilot : atp pilot : commercial pilot : instrument
Experience	flight time last 90 days : 165
ASRS Report	190398
Person 2
Affiliation	company : air carrier
Function	flight crew : first officer
Qualification	pilot : commercial pilot : instrument pilot : atp
Events
Anomaly	non adherence : clearance other anomaly other
Independent Detector	other flight crewa
Resolutory Action	flight crew : became reoriented
Consequence	Other
Supplementary
Primary Problem	Flight Crew Human Performance
Air Traffic Incident	Pilot Deviation
Situations
Airport	other physical facility

Narrative:

After landing on runway 28R (changed from 28L on short final) we were told to taxi to ramp via ff and south. These were the same instructions issued to an medium large transport that we were following. Due to construction, lights were not on on the west end of runway 28L and taxiway a. I crossed taxiway south and turned on another parallel taxiway (ramp) thinking it was taxiway south. The sign for south was past the intersection. The medium large transport that I was following did the same thing. We both requested taxiway south at Q. There were no evasive actions or problems with this particular situation. However, poorly marked and confusing taxiways are common. If the sign for south would have been placed before the taxiway instead of past it, there would have been less confusion. Also, the ramp taxiway is not marked on my airport diagram but is painted as a normal taxiway. Contributing factors: long duty day excess of 12 hours. Night time. Side step landing. Did not get to review in advance the airport diagram. Like a sheep I followed the medium large transport in front of me.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: FLC OF MLG TAXIED ON WRONG TAXIWAY AT PHL.

Narrative: AFTER LNDG ON RWY 28R (CHANGED FROM 28L ON SHORT FINAL) WE WERE TOLD TO TAXI TO RAMP VIA FF AND S. THESE WERE THE SAME INSTRUCTIONS ISSUED TO AN MLG THAT WE WERE FOLLOWING. DUE TO CONSTRUCTION, LIGHTS WERE NOT ON ON THE W END OF RWY 28L AND TAXIWAY A. I CROSSED TAXIWAY S AND TURNED ON ANOTHER PARALLEL TAXIWAY (RAMP) THINKING IT WAS TAXIWAY S. THE SIGN FOR S WAS PAST THE INTXN. THE MLG THAT I WAS FOLLOWING DID THE SAME THING. WE BOTH REQUESTED TAXIWAY S AT Q. THERE WERE NO EVASIVE ACTIONS OR PROBLEMS WITH THIS PARTICULAR SITUATION. HOWEVER, POORLY MARKED AND CONFUSING TAXIWAYS ARE COMMON. IF THE SIGN FOR S WOULD HAVE BEEN PLACED BEFORE THE TAXIWAY INSTEAD OF PAST IT, THERE WOULD HAVE BEEN LESS CONFUSION. ALSO, THE RAMP TAXIWAY IS NOT MARKED ON MY ARPT DIAGRAM BUT IS PAINTED AS A NORMAL TAXIWAY. CONTRIBUTING FACTORS: LONG DUTY DAY EXCESS OF 12 HRS. NIGHT TIME. SIDE STEP LNDG. DID NOT GET TO REVIEW IN ADVANCE THE ARPT DIAGRAM. LIKE A SHEEP I FOLLOWED THE MLG IN FRONT OF ME.

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.