Narrative:

I was the captain of a flight from pittsburgh to frankfurt, germany, and we taxied past the hold point on departure from pit. The problem arose when we took an unusual route to the holding point, as follows: we were cleared to taxi runway 10C via taxiway west. (There was no traffic and the controller gave no specific taxi instructions). We approached the lighted safety-area holding sign from taxiway east. The hold sign is located on taxiway west at taxiway east intersection. As I made the 90 degree turn south on taxiway west, I did not see the hold sign for runway 10C safety area. Since we had been cleared onto taxiway west (which is past the lighted runway 10C safety area hold mark), we were not as yet looking for a hold sign. Our route did not give us a head-on view of runway 10C hold light. When looking down on the hold sign on a narrow taxiway, the cockpit cutoff angle may prevent it from being seen for a reasonable amount of time, especially at night. Ground control was talking to airplanes not on our frequency, they were not paying close attention to our position, they did not change us to tower frequency before the hold point. We were busy with cockpit duties and unaware we were near the hold area because we had not yet reached the taxiway we had been cleared to. Also, at night, the runway 10C safety area is darker than usual (no centerline lights, etc). The end of the safety area is not clearly marked from the boundary of taxiway west. It was discovered when we saw centerline lights and heard traffic behind cleared into takeoff position. (We heard this on ground control frequency.) we decided to stay on taxiway west and continued to taxi past the runway 10C runway safety area. To improve situation awareness: include proposed taxi route with the ATC flight clearance (would give time to review prior to taxi). Make change to tower frequency responsibility of ground control. Better hold markers or stop bar lights on txwys. More detailed taxi chart with the expected taxi hold lights included.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: AN ACR B767 CAPT RPTS HAVING TAXIED PAST THE PIT RWY 10C SAFETY AREA AFTER ONLY HAVING RECEIVED INSTRUCTIONS TO TAXI TO RWY 10C. THE RPTR CITES INADEQUATE ATC TAXI INSTRUCTIONS, POOR TXWY, RWY, AND SAFETY AREA MARKING AND LIGHTING, COCKPIT WORKLOAD, AND A LACK OF DETAIL ON THE ARPT DIAGRAM DEPICTING THE INTXN AND COINCIDENT RWY SAFETY AREA.

Narrative: I WAS THE CAPT OF A FLT FROM PITTSBURGH TO FRANKFURT, GERMANY, AND WE TAXIED PAST THE HOLD POINT ON DEP FROM PIT. THE PROB AROSE WHEN WE TOOK AN UNUSUAL RTE TO THE HOLDING POINT, AS FOLLOWS: WE WERE CLRED TO TAXI RWY 10C VIA TXWY W. (THERE WAS NO TFC AND THE CTLR GAVE NO SPECIFIC TAXI INSTRUCTIONS). WE APCHED THE LIGHTED SAFETY-AREA HOLDING SIGN FROM TXWY E. THE HOLD SIGN IS LOCATED ON TXWY W AT TXWY E INTXN. AS I MADE THE 90 DEG TURN S ON TXWY W, I DID NOT SEE THE HOLD SIGN FOR RWY 10C SAFETY AREA. SINCE WE HAD BEEN CLRED ONTO TXWY W (WHICH IS PAST THE LIGHTED RWY 10C SAFETY AREA HOLD MARK), WE WERE NOT AS YET LOOKING FOR A HOLD SIGN. OUR RTE DID NOT GIVE US A HEAD-ON VIEW OF RWY 10C HOLD LIGHT. WHEN LOOKING DOWN ON THE HOLD SIGN ON A NARROW TXWY, THE COCKPIT CUTOFF ANGLE MAY PREVENT IT FROM BEING SEEN FOR A REASONABLE AMOUNT OF TIME, ESPECIALLY AT NIGHT. GND CTL WAS TALKING TO AIRPLANES NOT ON OUR FREQ, THEY WERE NOT PAYING CLOSE ATTN TO OUR POS, THEY DID NOT CHANGE US TO TWR FREQ BEFORE THE HOLD POINT. WE WERE BUSY WITH COCKPIT DUTIES AND UNAWARE WE WERE NEAR THE HOLD AREA BECAUSE WE HAD NOT YET REACHED THE TXWY WE HAD BEEN CLRED TO. ALSO, AT NIGHT, THE RWY 10C SAFETY AREA IS DARKER THAN USUAL (NO CTRLINE LIGHTS, ETC). THE END OF THE SAFETY AREA IS NOT CLRLY MARKED FROM THE BOUNDARY OF TXWY W. IT WAS DISCOVERED WHEN WE SAW CTRLINE LIGHTS AND HEARD TFC BEHIND CLRED INTO TKOF POS. (WE HEARD THIS ON GND CTL FREQ.) WE DECIDED TO STAY ON TXWY W AND CONTINUED TO TAXI PAST THE RWY 10C RWY SAFETY AREA. TO IMPROVE SIT AWARENESS: INCLUDE PROPOSED TAXI RTE WITH THE ATC FLT CLRNC (WOULD GIVE TIME TO REVIEW PRIOR TO TAXI). MAKE CHANGE TO TWR FREQ RESPONSIBILITY OF GND CTL. BETTER HOLD MARKERS OR STOP BAR LIGHTS ON TXWYS. MORE DETAILED TAXI CHART WITH THE EXPECTED TAXI HOLD LIGHTS INCLUDED.

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.