Narrative:

After the alignment was completed; I called lead and asked if they were ready to taxi on our UHF interplane frequency. They advised they were ready and my copilot called ready to resume taxi. Ground replied 'taxi to runway 26 via taxiway east.' now since the first few weeks of pilot training I have had taxi instructions beat into my head. When given this clearance I know I am cleared to cross runways up but holding short of the one in the clearance. This day for some reason a little voice in my head said 'hey that's weird for ATC to clear me all the way out to the end of the runway from here; well it's not busy so maybe' and I filed it in the back of my mind. We continued taxi down taxiway D and continued our checklists. We still had to get a ske check accomplished between our 2 aircraft to ensure the boxes were working good in both planes. We were approaching the end of taxiway D and my copilot asked if he should 'pimp' ground for our clearance. I said to give them a min and told him if we did not have it by the time we reached the end of taxiway D I would hold there so we did not block the only entrance/exit to the runway. Almost as soon as those words left my mouth; ground said 'clearance available; ready to copy?' I continued the taxi turning left onto taxiway east. The clearance that came over the radio was anything but canned. Ground cleared us on what sounded like fpr but after toley 2 east transition they began to spell out each point on our route phonetically with some points in there that were not on our flight plan. I looked over and my copilot was trying to keep up with the controller; but had gotten lost in the clearance. He was trying a 'technique' of checking the acknowledgement message given to us after we file our flight plan by euro control with what was being read over the radios. He got behind on copying the clearance when the controller began spelling out points to us. He got frustrated quickly and was asking me and the navigation if we knew what was different from what we filed. I was still taxiing the airplane and trying to get him to ask the controller to read back the clearance after the last point he copied when the copilot keyed the radio and said 'ground; can you tell me what is different about what you just told me and what we filed?' I immediately told my copilot that ATC does not know what we filed -- all they know is what we are cleared to do. I am still taxiing the airplane and now approaching the hold short of runway 26 at taxiway east. Ground control came back and confirmed what I had just told my copilot; they only know what we are cleared. I looked down the left side of the runway and above and stated 'approach end and final clear' the copilot cleared the right side and said 'departure end and above clear.' my flight engineer said 'are we cleared onto the runway?' the copilot immediately said 'yeah; we were cleared onto runway 26.' that little incorrect thought I had filed in the back of my head popped up and confirmed what my 'co' had stated. I then began to taxi past the hold short line. We taxied about another 50 ft and I heard lead come over interplane and ask; 'were we cleared onto the runway?' I stopped the aircraft as I was turning off taxiway east and onto the active just as ground control said 'hold position.' I knew I was wrong and I had a 130000 pound aircraft sitting out on the runway where everyone else could see me being wrong as well. Ground told me to taxi and clear the active at taxiway T. I did just that and asked to continue to taxiway east (on the hot cargo ramp side) to rejoin the formation. My lead aircraft had not followed me onto the active and was holding position at taxiway east as I should have done. A quick discussion ensued inside our plane as to where we had been cleared to; trying to again prove that we were right and ATC was wrong. We got our clearance issue worked out while holding short. We were then switched to tower and cleared to 'position and hold on runway 26.' I finished my brief; took a deep breath; re-grouped for the formation takeoff and led the formation to the end of runway 26; turned around and gladly took my place as 2 with the call '2's in.' tower called us and told us we had entered the runway without permission and for me to give the tower a call when we returned this evening. A call I never wanted to hear. We departed and I tried to forget about it and get on with the flight. But I knew I was wrong when I quoted the aim verbatim with taxi instructions. In the future; I will hold the aircraft at the hold line so I can devote my attention on solving clearance issues. I also will verbalize where we are cleared to taxi to on the aerodrome. I am going to listen to my crew. My flight engineer tried to save the day and I didn't listen to him. Instead; I let my copilot; who was already task saturated with the clearance issue; confirm something that I knew was wrong. My navigation was a brand new guy just off indoctrination training was lost in the clearance and I should have recognized his loss of situational awareness and realized we were 1 man down and tried to bring him into the game. I think subconsciously I was worried about tying up the only access to/from the runway. That consideration might have made me want to get off of the taxiway as soon as I could to prevent holding someone departing for a real world mission. Although we were training; we entered the runway inadvertently in the 'real world.'

Google
 

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: C130 CREW HAS RWY INCURSION AT RAMSTEIN AIR BASE.

Narrative: AFTER THE ALIGNMENT WAS COMPLETED; I CALLED LEAD AND ASKED IF THEY WERE READY TO TAXI ON OUR UHF INTERPLANE FREQ. THEY ADVISED THEY WERE READY AND MY COPLT CALLED READY TO RESUME TAXI. GND REPLIED 'TAXI TO RWY 26 VIA TXWY E.' NOW SINCE THE FIRST FEW WKS OF PLT TRAINING I HAVE HAD TAXI INSTRUCTIONS BEAT INTO MY HEAD. WHEN GIVEN THIS CLRNC I KNOW I AM CLRED TO CROSS RWYS UP BUT HOLDING SHORT OF THE ONE IN THE CLRNC. THIS DAY FOR SOME REASON A LITTLE VOICE IN MY HEAD SAID 'HEY THAT'S WEIRD FOR ATC TO CLR ME ALL THE WAY OUT TO THE END OF THE RWY FROM HERE; WELL IT'S NOT BUSY SO MAYBE' AND I FILED IT IN THE BACK OF MY MIND. WE CONTINUED TAXI DOWN TXWY D AND CONTINUED OUR CHKLISTS. WE STILL HAD TO GET A SKE CHK ACCOMPLISHED BTWN OUR 2 ACFT TO ENSURE THE BOXES WERE WORKING GOOD IN BOTH PLANES. WE WERE APCHING THE END OF TXWY D AND MY COPLT ASKED IF HE SHOULD 'PIMP' GND FOR OUR CLRNC. I SAID TO GIVE THEM A MIN AND TOLD HIM IF WE DID NOT HAVE IT BY THE TIME WE REACHED THE END OF TXWY D I WOULD HOLD THERE SO WE DID NOT BLOCK THE ONLY ENTRANCE/EXIT TO THE RWY. ALMOST AS SOON AS THOSE WORDS LEFT MY MOUTH; GND SAID 'CLRNC AVAILABLE; READY TO COPY?' I CONTINUED THE TAXI TURNING L ONTO TXWY E. THE CLRNC THAT CAME OVER THE RADIO WAS ANYTHING BUT CANNED. GND CLRED US ON WHAT SOUNDED LIKE FPR BUT AFTER TOLEY 2 E TRANSITION THEY BEGAN TO SPELL OUT EACH POINT ON OUR RTE PHONETICALLY WITH SOME POINTS IN THERE THAT WERE NOT ON OUR FLT PLAN. I LOOKED OVER AND MY COPLT WAS TRYING TO KEEP UP WITH THE CTLR; BUT HAD GOTTEN LOST IN THE CLRNC. HE WAS TRYING A 'TECHNIQUE' OF CHKING THE ACKNOWLEDGEMENT MESSAGE GIVEN TO US AFTER WE FILE OUR FLT PLAN BY EURO CTL WITH WHAT WAS BEING READ OVER THE RADIOS. HE GOT BEHIND ON COPYING THE CLRNC WHEN THE CTLR BEGAN SPELLING OUT POINTS TO US. HE GOT FRUSTRATED QUICKLY AND WAS ASKING ME AND THE NAV IF WE KNEW WHAT WAS DIFFERENT FROM WHAT WE FILED. I WAS STILL TAXIING THE AIRPLANE AND TRYING TO GET HIM TO ASK THE CTLR TO READ BACK THE CLRNC AFTER THE LAST POINT HE COPIED WHEN THE COPLT KEYED THE RADIO AND SAID 'GND; CAN YOU TELL ME WHAT IS DIFFERENT ABOUT WHAT YOU JUST TOLD ME AND WHAT WE FILED?' I IMMEDIATELY TOLD MY COPLT THAT ATC DOES NOT KNOW WHAT WE FILED -- ALL THEY KNOW IS WHAT WE ARE CLRED TO DO. I AM STILL TAXIING THE AIRPLANE AND NOW APCHING THE HOLD SHORT OF RWY 26 AT TXWY E. GND CTL CAME BACK AND CONFIRMED WHAT I HAD JUST TOLD MY COPLT; THEY ONLY KNOW WHAT WE ARE CLRED. I LOOKED DOWN THE L SIDE OF THE RWY AND ABOVE AND STATED 'APCH END AND FINAL CLR' THE COPLT CLRED THE R SIDE AND SAID 'DEP END AND ABOVE CLR.' MY FE SAID 'ARE WE CLRED ONTO THE RWY?' THE COPLT IMMEDIATELY SAID 'YEAH; WE WERE CLRED ONTO RWY 26.' THAT LITTLE INCORRECT THOUGHT I HAD FILED IN THE BACK OF MY HEAD POPPED UP AND CONFIRMED WHAT MY 'CO' HAD STATED. I THEN BEGAN TO TAXI PAST THE HOLD SHORT LINE. WE TAXIED ABOUT ANOTHER 50 FT AND I HEARD LEAD COME OVER INTERPLANE AND ASK; 'WERE WE CLRED ONTO THE RWY?' I STOPPED THE ACFT AS I WAS TURNING OFF TXWY E AND ONTO THE ACTIVE JUST AS GND CTL SAID 'HOLD POS.' I KNEW I WAS WRONG AND I HAD A 130000 LB ACFT SITTING OUT ON THE RWY WHERE EVERYONE ELSE COULD SEE ME BEING WRONG AS WELL. GND TOLD ME TO TAXI AND CLR THE ACTIVE AT TXWY T. I DID JUST THAT AND ASKED TO CONTINUE TO TXWY E (ON THE HOT CARGO RAMP SIDE) TO REJOIN THE FORMATION. MY LEAD ACFT HAD NOT FOLLOWED ME ONTO THE ACTIVE AND WAS HOLDING POS AT TXWY E AS I SHOULD HAVE DONE. A QUICK DISCUSSION ENSUED INSIDE OUR PLANE AS TO WHERE WE HAD BEEN CLRED TO; TRYING TO AGAIN PROVE THAT WE WERE RIGHT AND ATC WAS WRONG. WE GOT OUR CLRNC ISSUE WORKED OUT WHILE HOLDING SHORT. WE WERE THEN SWITCHED TO TWR AND CLRED TO 'POS AND HOLD ON RWY 26.' I FINISHED MY BRIEF; TOOK A DEEP BREATH; RE-GROUPED FOR THE FORMATION TKOF AND LED THE FORMATION TO THE END OF RWY 26; TURNED AROUND AND GLADLY TOOK MY PLACE AS 2 WITH THE CALL '2'S IN.' TWR CALLED US AND TOLD US WE HAD ENTERED THE RWY WITHOUT PERMISSION AND FOR ME TO GIVE THE TWR A CALL WHEN WE RETURNED THIS EVENING. A CALL I NEVER WANTED TO HEAR. WE DEPARTED AND I TRIED TO FORGET ABOUT IT AND GET ON WITH THE FLT. BUT I KNEW I WAS WRONG WHEN I QUOTED THE AIM VERBATIM WITH TAXI INSTRUCTIONS. IN THE FUTURE; I WILL HOLD THE ACFT AT THE HOLD LINE SO I CAN DEVOTE MY ATTN ON SOLVING CLRNC ISSUES. I ALSO WILL VERBALIZE WHERE WE ARE CLRED TO TAXI TO ON THE AERODROME. I AM GOING TO LISTEN TO MY CREW. MY FE TRIED TO SAVE THE DAY AND I DIDN'T LISTEN TO HIM. INSTEAD; I LET MY COPLT; WHO WAS ALREADY TASK SATURATED WITH THE CLRNC ISSUE; CONFIRM SOMETHING THAT I KNEW WAS WRONG. MY NAV WAS A BRAND NEW GUY JUST OFF INDOCTRINATION TRAINING WAS LOST IN THE CLRNC AND I SHOULD HAVE RECOGNIZED HIS LOSS OF SITUATIONAL AWARENESS AND REALIZED WE WERE 1 MAN DOWN AND TRIED TO BRING HIM INTO THE GAME. I THINK SUBCONSCIOUSLY I WAS WORRIED ABOUT TYING UP THE ONLY ACCESS TO/FROM THE RWY. THAT CONSIDERATION MIGHT HAVE MADE ME WANT TO GET OFF OF THE TXWY AS SOON AS I COULD TO PREVENT HOLDING SOMEONE DEPARTING FOR A REAL WORLD MISSION. ALTHOUGH WE WERE TRAINING; WE ENTERED THE RWY INADVERTENTLY IN THE 'REAL WORLD.'

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of January 2009 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.