Pilot walked across taxiway a at sff.

Attributes
ACN	498952
Time
Date	200101
Day	Tue
Local Time Of Day	0601 To 1200
Place
Locale Reference	airport : sff.airport
State Reference	WA
Altitude	agl single value : 0
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Operator	general aviation : corporate
Make Model Name	PA-18/19 Super Cub
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 135
Flight Phase	ground : taxi
Person 1
Affiliation	other
Qualification	pilot : instrument pilot : commercial
Experience	flight time last 90 days : 5 flight time total : 3007 flight time type : 2952
ASRS Report	498952
Person 2
Affiliation	company : corporate
Function	flight crew : single pilot
Qualification	pilot : commercial
Events
Anomaly	conflict : ground less severe ground encounters other incursion : taxiway non adherence : published procedure non adherence : far
Independent Detector	other other : 1
Resolutory Action	none taken : anomaly accepted
Supplementary
Problem Areas	ATC Human Performance Airport FAA Flight Crew Human Performance
Primary Problem	Airport
Situations
Airport	design : sff.airport markings : sff.airport signage : sff.airport snow removal : sff.airport

Narrative:

I was walking across taxiway a to my tiedown near the terminal building and was surprised by an aircraft operator who taxied onto that taxiway suddenly from a nearby parking area. Taxiway a at felts has become a nearly continuous zone of potential conflict between fixed wing aircraft, helicopters, vehicles, and pedestrians because of the concentration of traffic around the terminal building, FBO's, and businesses. This zone has more the character of a ramp than a taxiway. A suggestion is to use parallel taxiway B as the main taxiway at felts. Also, improved signage for aircraft and vehicle operators and pedestrians and improved marking of vehicle and pedestrian rtes would really help a lot. Note that winter snow cover at felts makes painted route markers problematic. Callback conversation with reporter revealed the following information: pilot states that businesses have expanded onto the area north of taxiway a. The city is now building an access road to this area that has a traffic light that is tower controled. He considers that this will solve the problem he described in his report.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: PLT WALKED ACROSS TXWY A AT SFF.

Narrative: I WAS WALKING ACROSS TXWY A TO MY TIEDOWN NEAR THE TERMINAL BUILDING AND WAS SURPRISED BY AN ACFT OPERATOR WHO TAXIED ONTO THAT TXWY SUDDENLY FROM A NEARBY PARKING AREA. TXWY A AT FELTS HAS BECOME A NEARLY CONTINUOUS ZONE OF POTENTIAL CONFLICT BTWN FIXED WING ACFT, HELIS, VEHICLES, AND PEDESTRIANS BECAUSE OF THE CONCENTRATION OF TFC AROUND THE TERMINAL BUILDING, FBO'S, AND BUSINESSES. THIS ZONE HAS MORE THE CHARACTER OF A RAMP THAN A TXWY. A SUGGESTION IS TO USE PARALLEL TXWY B AS THE MAIN TXWY AT FELTS. ALSO, IMPROVED SIGNAGE FOR ACFT AND VEHICLE OPERATORS AND PEDESTRIANS AND IMPROVED MARKING OF VEHICLE AND PEDESTRIAN RTES WOULD REALLY HELP A LOT. NOTE THAT WINTER SNOW COVER AT FELTS MAKES PAINTED RTE MARKERS PROBLEMATIC. CALLBACK CONVERSATION WITH RPTR REVEALED THE FOLLOWING INFO: PLT STATES THAT BUSINESSES HAVE EXPANDED ONTO THE AREA N OF TXWY A. THE CITY IS NOW BUILDING AN ACCESS ROAD TO THIS AREA THAT HAS A TFC LIGHT THAT IS TWR CTLED. HE CONSIDERS THAT THIS WILL SOLVE THE PROB HE DESCRIBED IN HIS RPT.

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.