Narrative:

I was in the cockpit on the radio for a tow from gate xy to the hangar. I was initially told to hold short on taxiway a at taxiway east. After a short wait, I was told to proceed on taxiway east and hold short of runway 28L. I relayed this to my tug driver and he wanted me to call the tower and reconfirm as this was out of our way. I called the tower and confirmed the route. I relayed this to the tug driver. When I took my thumb off the microphone button, I thought tower was changing our route from hold short of runway 28L to cross runway 28L hold short of runway 28R. I repeated the supposed change back to tower, then relayed it to the tug driver. If tower was telling me I had the route wrong it could have been while I had the button pressed talking to the tug. The tug was approximately 20 ft onto runway 28L when I noticed that the incoming plane was landing on the runway. I told the tug to back up if there was room and he proceeded. The tower called us when we started back and I told them we were backing up. The other aircraft was turning off the runway at a previous taxiway at this time and tower told me to proceed across runway 28L.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A B757-200 IN TOW EXPERIENCED A RWY INCURSION DUE TO INADEQUATE COM BTWN TUG DRIVER AND COCKPIT TECHNICIAN RELAYING TWR INSTRUCTIONS. TUG TWR RADIO WAS INOP.

Narrative: I WAS IN THE COCKPIT ON THE RADIO FOR A TOW FROM GATE XY TO THE HANGAR. I WAS INITIALLY TOLD TO HOLD SHORT ON TXWY A AT TXWY E. AFTER A SHORT WAIT, I WAS TOLD TO PROCEED ON TXWY E AND HOLD SHORT OF RWY 28L. I RELAYED THIS TO MY TUG DRIVER AND HE WANTED ME TO CALL THE TWR AND RECONFIRM AS THIS WAS OUT OF OUR WAY. I CALLED THE TWR AND CONFIRMED THE RTE. I RELAYED THIS TO THE TUG DRIVER. WHEN I TOOK MY THUMB OFF THE MIKE BUTTON, I THOUGHT TWR WAS CHANGING OUR RTE FROM HOLD SHORT OF RWY 28L TO CROSS RWY 28L HOLD SHORT OF RWY 28R. I REPEATED THE SUPPOSED CHANGE BACK TO TWR, THEN RELAYED IT TO THE TUG DRIVER. IF TWR WAS TELLING ME I HAD THE RTE WRONG IT COULD HAVE BEEN WHILE I HAD THE BUTTON PRESSED TALKING TO THE TUG. THE TUG WAS APPROX 20 FT ONTO RWY 28L WHEN I NOTICED THAT THE INCOMING PLANE WAS LNDG ON THE RWY. I TOLD THE TUG TO BACK UP IF THERE WAS ROOM AND HE PROCEEDED. THE TWR CALLED US WHEN WE STARTED BACK AND I TOLD THEM WE WERE BACKING UP. THE OTHER ACFT WAS TURNING OFF THE RWY AT A PREVIOUS TXWY AT THIS TIME AND TWR TOLD ME TO PROCEED ACROSS RWY 28L.

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.