Narrative:

The first officer called slc ground control for a taxi clearance from a cargo area near the approach end of runway 34R (H2 taxiway. The controller asked if we could accept runway 35, the first officer said yes, and the controller cleared us to, 'taxi to runway 35.' I taxied south to the H1 taxiway, turned left, and crossed the runway 34R approach end. I had turned on all taxi lights before I crossed the runway and both the first officer and I looked for traffic, but we did not see any aircraft. After we crossed runway 34R the controller asked, 'did I clear you to cross runway 34R?' we both looked at each other and agreed that we had heard the clearance as 'taxi to runway 35.' the first officer called back, 'we both heard, cleared to taxi to runway 35.' nothing more was said after that exchange of radio calls. It was the late night shift with very little traffic movement. The controller was working ground, tower, and approach. One aircraft was inbound to land on runway 16L (same runway as runway 34R). We took off on runway 35 after the other inbound aircraft landed. There were no other aircraft in the area. I suspect that the controller was overloaded or distracted. He may have thought that we were east of runway 35 instead of west of runway 16L. There did not appear to be any traffic conflict.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: B727 CREW HAD ATCT GND CTLR ISSUE CLRNC TO RWY 35 AT SLC. CTLR THEN EXPRESSED SURPRISE THE CREW CROSSED RWY 34R ON THE WAY TO RWY 35.

Narrative: THE FO CALLED SLC GND CTL FOR A TAXI CLRNC FROM A CARGO AREA NEAR THE APCH END OF RWY 34R (H2 TXWY. THE CTLR ASKED IF WE COULD ACCEPT RWY 35, THE FO SAID YES, AND THE CTLR CLRED US TO, 'TAXI TO RWY 35.' I TAXIED S TO THE H1 TXWY, TURNED L, AND CROSSED THE RWY 34R APCH END. I HAD TURNED ON ALL TAXI LIGHTS BEFORE I CROSSED THE RWY AND BOTH THE FO AND I LOOKED FOR TFC, BUT WE DID NOT SEE ANY ACFT. AFTER WE CROSSED RWY 34R THE CTLR ASKED, 'DID I CLR YOU TO CROSS RWY 34R?' WE BOTH LOOKED AT EACH OTHER AND AGREED THAT WE HAD HEARD THE CLRNC AS 'TAXI TO RWY 35.' THE FO CALLED BACK, 'WE BOTH HEARD, CLRED TO TAXI TO RWY 35.' NOTHING MORE WAS SAID AFTER THAT EXCHANGE OF RADIO CALLS. IT WAS THE LATE NIGHT SHIFT WITH VERY LITTLE TFC MOVEMENT. THE CTLR WAS WORKING GND, TWR, AND APCH. ONE ACFT WAS INBOUND TO LAND ON RWY 16L (SAME RWY AS RWY 34R). WE TOOK OFF ON RWY 35 AFTER THE OTHER INBOUND ACFT LANDED. THERE WERE NO OTHER ACFT IN THE AREA. I SUSPECT THAT THE CTLR WAS OVERLOADED OR DISTRACTED. HE MAY HAVE THOUGHT THAT WE WERE E OF RWY 35 INSTEAD OF W OF RWY 16L. THERE DID NOT APPEAR TO BE ANY TFC CONFLICT.

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.