Narrative:

It was a dark and stormy night. From abeam gate our taxi instructions were txwys a and south, runway 10R. The txwys were wet with rain coming down. The paint lines were nearly impossible to see. I was first officer with my head down at times with checklist and weight and balance updates. It was a short taxi to a runway we don't frequently use. I saw something off to the right, and told the captain I thought that might be where we were supposed to go. Captain thought that was an intersection and continued to follow another aircraft taxiing in front of us. There were no visible taxiway centerline lights visible or signs we saw going to runway 10R. As we arrived at the hold short lines for the runway, at which time tower advised us we were actually at runway 10L. Oops! With apologies to the tower, we departed runway 10L (us runway 10R) with no incident. We had crossed just off the end of runway 10R, but fortunately that runway 10R was being used only for departures only, and not for arrs. While we did not cross the active runway 10R, the taxiway goes just beyond the approach end of runway 10R, and we would have intruded on the approach plane had anyone been on approach to runway 10R. Signage was hard to read on a wet, rainy night, and we saw no taxi lights to runway 10R, but we also misinterpreted our location during the short, busy taxi out.

Related reports:

Google
 

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: ACR LGT CLRED TO RWY 10R VIA TXWY A-S. RAINING AND POOR VISIBILITY AND TXWY MARKINGS. CROSSED RWY 10R IN ERROR AND LINED UP RWY 10L. NO CONFLICT AND TWR CLRED ACFT FOR DEP RWY 10L.

Narrative: IT WAS A DARK AND STORMY NIGHT. FROM ABEAM GATE OUR TAXI INSTRUCTIONS WERE TXWYS A AND S, RWY 10R. THE TXWYS WERE WET WITH RAIN COMING DOWN. THE PAINT LINES WERE NEARLY IMPOSSIBLE TO SEE. I WAS FO WITH MY HEAD DOWN AT TIMES WITH CHKLIST AND WT AND BAL UPDATES. IT WAS A SHORT TAXI TO A RWY WE DON'T FREQUENTLY USE. I SAW SOMETHING OFF TO THE R, AND TOLD THE CAPT I THOUGHT THAT MIGHT BE WHERE WE WERE SUPPOSED TO GO. CAPT THOUGHT THAT WAS AN INTXN AND CONTINUED TO FOLLOW ANOTHER ACFT TAXIING IN FRONT OF US. THERE WERE NO VISIBLE TXWY CTRLINE LIGHTS VISIBLE OR SIGNS WE SAW GOING TO RWY 10R. AS WE ARRIVED AT THE HOLD SHORT LINES FOR THE RWY, AT WHICH TIME TWR ADVISED US WE WERE ACTUALLY AT RWY 10L. OOPS! WITH APOLOGIES TO THE TWR, WE DEPARTED RWY 10L (US RWY 10R) WITH NO INCIDENT. WE HAD CROSSED JUST OFF THE END OF RWY 10R, BUT FORTUNATELY THAT RWY 10R WAS BEING USED ONLY FOR DEPS ONLY, AND NOT FOR ARRS. WHILE WE DID NOT CROSS THE ACTIVE RWY 10R, THE TXWY GOES JUST BEYOND THE APCH END OF RWY 10R, AND WE WOULD HAVE INTRUDED ON THE APCH PLANE HAD ANYONE BEEN ON APCH TO RWY 10R. SIGNAGE WAS HARD TO READ ON A WET, RAINY NIGHT, AND WE SAW NO TAXI LIGHTS TO RWY 10R, BUT WE ALSO MISINTERPRETED OUR LOCATION DURING THE SHORT, BUSY TAXI OUT.

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.