Narrative:

The primary cause of this situation was the controller being in a hurry, and then as a crew, we let him hurry us along as well. Therefore, both controller and flight crew became rushed which is not a good situation. The situation occurred at the cleveland hopkins airport at XX25 local time. It appears that there was a breakdown in communication between the tower controller and the flight crew. The communication went as follows: the controller said, 'taxi into position and hold on runway 23L and be ready to go.' we responded with the readback. Then the controller said, 'cleared for takeoff 23L' but then he paused and said 'cleared for takeoff 23R.' he verbally changed our takeoff clearance to the right instead of the left on runway 23. Therefore, we read back the clearance that we were cleared for takeoff on 23R and taxied into position for takeoff on that runway. The controller called us and said that we were on the wrong runway and to hold our position. We, the flight crew, looked at each other in surprise and both agreed that we not only heard cleared for immediate takeoff on 23R but we also read this clearance back to the tower controller and our readback went unchallenged. Another factor that may have contributed to this situation was that the tower controller was handling several aircraft at the same time which can always lead to some confusion.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: FLC OF LTT ALLEGEDLY TAXIED INTO POS ON WRONG RWY.

Narrative: THE PRIMARY CAUSE OF THIS SITUATION WAS THE CTLR BEING IN A HURRY, AND THEN AS A CREW, WE LET HIM HURRY US ALONG AS WELL. THEREFORE, BOTH CTLR AND FLC BECAME RUSHED WHICH IS NOT A GOOD SITUATION. THE SITUATION OCCURRED AT THE CLEVELAND HOPKINS ARPT AT XX25 LCL TIME. IT APPEARS THAT THERE WAS A BREAKDOWN IN COM BTWN THE TWR CTLR AND THE FLC. THE COM WENT AS FOLLOWS: THE CTLR SAID, 'TAXI INTO POS AND HOLD ON RWY 23L AND BE READY TO GO.' WE RESPONDED WITH THE READBACK. THEN THE CTLR SAID, 'CLRED FOR TKOF 23L' BUT THEN HE PAUSED AND SAID 'CLRED FOR TKOF 23R.' HE VERBALLY CHANGED OUR TKOF CLRNC TO THE R INSTEAD OF THE L ON RWY 23. THEREFORE, WE READ BACK THE CLRNC THAT WE WERE CLRED FOR TKOF ON 23R AND TAXIED INTO POS FOR TKOF ON THAT RWY. THE CTLR CALLED US AND SAID THAT WE WERE ON THE WRONG RWY AND TO HOLD OUR POS. WE, THE FLC, LOOKED AT EACH OTHER IN SURPRISE AND BOTH AGREED THAT WE NOT ONLY HEARD CLRED FOR IMMEDIATE TKOF ON 23R BUT WE ALSO READ THIS CLRNC BACK TO THE TWR CTLR AND OUR READBACK WENT UNCHALLENGED. ANOTHER FACTOR THAT MAY HAVE CONTRIBUTED TO THIS SITUATION WAS THAT THE TWR CTLR WAS HANDLING SEVERAL ACFT AT THE SAME TIME WHICH CAN ALWAYS LEAD TO SOME CONFUSION.

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.