Narrative:

From the ramp we were told to 'enter and backtrack runway 7, exit taxiway a and hold short,' which we read back. The clearance seemed odd to me, so I confirmed with the first officer that we were supposed to exit at taxiway a. I should add that we were given the instructions twice. On the first when leaving parking and were told to backtrack after giving way to inbound traffic, second time when we entered the runway. The clearance was odd because taxiway a is at the end of the runway. The commercial chart plate does not even depict txwys a and B, so I thought my visualization of designations might be wrong. (It wasn't.) it seemed to make more sense to exit at taxiway B and hold short of taxiway a, but we had heard 'exit taxiway a' twice and read it back twice. The tower controller never said the word 'bravo.' as we approached taxiway B, the frequency was busy, and since we had also been told to expedite and we were sure of what we heard, we continued past taxiway B, and exited at taxiway a. The controller said then that he had told us to exit at taxiway B. We had a short discussion in which the controller said that we had read back taxiway B. We explained we wouldn't have done something that made no sense if we had not been told clearly to do it.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: ACR FLC TAXIING OUT FAILED TO EXIT OFF THE RWY AT THE EXIT GIVEN IN TAXI CLRNC.

Narrative: FROM THE RAMP WE WERE TOLD TO 'ENTER AND BACKTRACK RWY 7, EXIT TXWY A AND HOLD SHORT,' WHICH WE READ BACK. THE CLRNC SEEMED ODD TO ME, SO I CONFIRMED WITH THE FO THAT WE WERE SUPPOSED TO EXIT AT TXWY A. I SHOULD ADD THAT WE WERE GIVEN THE INSTRUCTIONS TWICE. ON THE FIRST WHEN LEAVING PARKING AND WERE TOLD TO BACKTRACK AFTER GIVING WAY TO INBOUND TFC, SECOND TIME WHEN WE ENTERED THE RWY. THE CLRNC WAS ODD BECAUSE TXWY A IS AT THE END OF THE RWY. THE COMMERCIAL CHART PLATE DOES NOT EVEN DEPICT TXWYS A AND B, SO I THOUGHT MY VISUALIZATION OF DESIGNATIONS MIGHT BE WRONG. (IT WASN'T.) IT SEEMED TO MAKE MORE SENSE TO EXIT AT TXWY B AND HOLD SHORT OF TXWY A, BUT WE HAD HEARD 'EXIT TXWY A' TWICE AND READ IT BACK TWICE. THE TWR CTLR NEVER SAID THE WORD 'BRAVO.' AS WE APCHED TXWY B, THE FREQ WAS BUSY, AND SINCE WE HAD ALSO BEEN TOLD TO EXPEDITE AND WE WERE SURE OF WHAT WE HEARD, WE CONTINUED PAST TXWY B, AND EXITED AT TXWY A. THE CTLR SAID THEN THAT HE HAD TOLD US TO EXIT AT TXWY B. WE HAD A SHORT DISCUSSION IN WHICH THE CTLR SAID THAT WE HAD READ BACK TXWY B. WE EXPLAINED WE WOULDN'T HAVE DONE SOMETHING THAT MADE NO SENSE IF WE HAD NOT BEEN TOLD CLRLY TO DO IT.

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.