Md-80 crew missed turning on taxiway wa because the taxiway sign was obscured by vegetation growth.

Attributes
ACN	525590
Time
Date	200109
Day	Thu
Local Time Of Day	1801 To 2400
Place
Locale Reference	airport : iah.airport
State Reference	TX
Altitude	agl single value : 0
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Night
Aircraft 1
Operator	common carrier : air carrier
Make Model Name	MD-80 Series (DC-9-80) Undifferentiated or Other Model
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	ground : taxi
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Affiliation	company : air carrier
Function	flight crew : first officer
Qualification	pilot : atp pilot : commercial pilot : multi engine pilot : instrument pilot : flight engineer
Experience	flight time last 90 days : 150 flight time total : 7000 flight time type : 2000
ASRS Report	525590
Person 2
Affiliation	company : air carrier
Function	flight crew : captain oversight : pic
Events
Anomaly	incursion : taxiway maintenance problem : improper maintenance non adherence : clearance other anomaly other
Independent Detector	other flight crewa other flight crewb
Resolutory Action	controller : issued new clearance none taken : detected after the fact
Supplementary
Problem Areas	Flight Crew Human Performance Airport
Primary Problem	Flight Crew Human Performance
Air Traffic Incident	Pilot Deviation
Situations
Airport	groundskeeping : iah.airport procedure or policy : iah.airport

Narrative:

Iah ground control told us to taxi on wa and we went to wb because weeds covering taxi signs. No conflict. No problem.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: MD-80 CREW MISSED TURNING ON TXWY WA BECAUSE THE TXWY SIGN WAS OBSCURED BY VEGETATION GROWTH.

Narrative: IAH GND CTL TOLD US TO TAXI ON WA AND WE WENT TO WB BECAUSE WEEDS COVERING TAXI SIGNS. NO CONFLICT. NO PROB.

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.