Narrative:

At spot on the ramp in phl, our taxi instructions were 'taxiway H, taxiway K, hold short of runway 27R.' my first officer read the instructions back. I found where taxiway H intersected taxiway K, and started down taxiway H. In retrospect, the hold short did not make any sense with these instructions, but it was very early and I was not all that familiar with this airport. I believed that we would end up crossing the approach end of runway 27R and join taxiway south, since on every previous time at phl I had ended up on that taxiway when departing. As we crossed runway 17/35, the ground controller asked if we were crossing that runway, and seemed surprised. We had confirmed that there was no traffic on or approaching the runway before we crossed. He then said 'right on taxiway D, right on taxiway south, hold short runway 35.' as we approached runway 27R sbound on taxiway D, we held short because we had initially been instructed to. There was obviously some confusion here, and runway 27R was very obviously an active runway. We were eventually cleared to cross runway 27R and instructed to still hold short of runway 35 on taxiway south, facing wbound. After sitting there a few mins, we queried ground. A different controller came on and cleared us to taxi to runway 27L via taxiway south, which we did. In retrospect, it seems obvious that the ground controller had meant to say 'taxiway H and taxiway east, short of runway 27R' but just misspoke. I don't know what was going on in the tower. Maybe the first controller was covering for someone else at the time. Either way, controllers need to be more careful, especially in an area like that where a runway incursion is possible. For my part, I should have taken more time to study the chart to make sure the instructions made sense. Many times controllers assume that we know the standard taxi rtes and would notice if they said something wrong. I have little experience here and have no idea what a standard route would be.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A CL65 PIC IS NOT SURE WHETHER HE EXPERIENCED A RWY INCURSION OR NOT AFTER OBTAINING CONFUSING TAXI INSTRUCTIONS FROM THE GND CTLR AT PHL, PA.

Narrative: AT SPOT ON THE RAMP IN PHL, OUR TAXI INSTRUCTIONS WERE 'TXWY H, TXWY K, HOLD SHORT OF RWY 27R.' MY FO READ THE INSTRUCTIONS BACK. I FOUND WHERE TXWY H INTERSECTED TXWY K, AND STARTED DOWN TXWY H. IN RETROSPECT, THE HOLD SHORT DID NOT MAKE ANY SENSE WITH THESE INSTRUCTIONS, BUT IT WAS VERY EARLY AND I WAS NOT ALL THAT FAMILIAR WITH THIS ARPT. I BELIEVED THAT WE WOULD END UP XING THE APCH END OF RWY 27R AND JOIN TXWY S, SINCE ON EVERY PREVIOUS TIME AT PHL I HAD ENDED UP ON THAT TXWY WHEN DEPARTING. AS WE CROSSED RWY 17/35, THE GND CTLR ASKED IF WE WERE XING THAT RWY, AND SEEMED SURPRISED. WE HAD CONFIRMED THAT THERE WAS NO TFC ON OR APCHING THE RWY BEFORE WE CROSSED. HE THEN SAID 'R ON TXWY D, R ON TXWY S, HOLD SHORT RWY 35.' AS WE APCHED RWY 27R SBOUND ON TXWY D, WE HELD SHORT BECAUSE WE HAD INITIALLY BEEN INSTRUCTED TO. THERE WAS OBVIOUSLY SOME CONFUSION HERE, AND RWY 27R WAS VERY OBVIOUSLY AN ACTIVE RWY. WE WERE EVENTUALLY CLRED TO CROSS RWY 27R AND INSTRUCTED TO STILL HOLD SHORT OF RWY 35 ON TXWY S, FACING WBOUND. AFTER SITTING THERE A FEW MINS, WE QUERIED GND. A DIFFERENT CTLR CAME ON AND CLRED US TO TAXI TO RWY 27L VIA TXWY S, WHICH WE DID. IN RETROSPECT, IT SEEMS OBVIOUS THAT THE GND CTLR HAD MEANT TO SAY 'TXWY H AND TXWY E, SHORT OF RWY 27R' BUT JUST MISSPOKE. I DON'T KNOW WHAT WAS GOING ON IN THE TWR. MAYBE THE FIRST CTLR WAS COVERING FOR SOMEONE ELSE AT THE TIME. EITHER WAY, CTLRS NEED TO BE MORE CAREFUL, ESPECIALLY IN AN AREA LIKE THAT WHERE A RWY INCURSION IS POSSIBLE. FOR MY PART, I SHOULD HAVE TAKEN MORE TIME TO STUDY THE CHART TO MAKE SURE THE INSTRUCTIONS MADE SENSE. MANY TIMES CTLRS ASSUME THAT WE KNOW THE STANDARD TAXI RTES AND WOULD NOTICE IF THEY SAID SOMETHING WRONG. I HAVE LITTLE EXPERIENCE HERE AND HAVE NO IDEA WHAT A STANDARD RTE WOULD BE.

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.