Narrative:

After push we were cleared J; J2; hold short of kilo. While taxiing we were cleared kilo; lima; hold short pad 5. We were #2 holding short of pad 5 behind another carrier. Ground then cleared us to taxi lima; november; hold short of 6R on november; monitor tower on 120.9. We waited for the other carrier to taxi; but he remained holding short of pad 5. We switched back to ground and asked if the other carrier was going to taxi. The other carrier started to move and we received a new clearance from ground: lima; tango; hold short of 6R on tango; monitor tower. Tower cleared us to cross 6R at tango. First officer noticed the other carrier coming right to left down taxiway golf and asked the captain if he saw the other carrier. We were never told to hold short of golf or give way to the other carrier. The captain said he did and held short of golf taxiway on tango. Just after the other carrier passed; the tower cleared us for position and hold on 6L. As we taxied across the hold short line; the other carrier asked tower if they were still cleared for takeoff. The captain stopped the jet short of the runway but passed the hold short line. The tower then instructed us to taxi down and then clear of the runway. We asked if a 180 would work better and tower cleared us for the 180 back onto tango then right on taxiway golf. The other carrier departed 6L; then we were cleared for takeoff. We had a runway incursion due to tower clearing us for position and hold; when it had previously cleared a regional jet for a full length departure. The cleveland airport operational setup when using 6L and 6R seems questionable. Ground has planes switch to tower extremely early; and it seems that there was a lot of confusion between ground and tower. Also; if we were going to follow another carrier for takeoff; why did we not just follow them to the runway? Ground/tower crossed the other carrier on november and then had us go down to tango. This set up our taxiway/runway incursion. I never heard the other carrier get cleared for takeoff. How early did tower clear the plane for takeoff? We had to switch back to ground when other carrier had us blocked back at pad 5. Is that when the takeoff clearance was issued? As aircrew; we knew ground/tower had made 2 mistakes prior to our clearance for position and hold. We should have slowed down and been ready for additional problems.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A B737 flight crew had a runway incursion following CLE ATC clearance confusion.

Narrative: After push we were cleared J; J2; hold short of Kilo. While taxiing we were cleared Kilo; Lima; hold short Pad 5. We were #2 holding short of Pad 5 behind another carrier. Ground then cleared us to taxi Lima; November; hold short of 6R on November; monitor Tower on 120.9. We waited for the other carrier to taxi; but he remained holding short of Pad 5. We switched back to Ground and asked if the other carrier was going to taxi. The other carrier started to move and we received a new clearance from Ground: Lima; Tango; hold short of 6R on Tango; monitor Tower. Tower cleared us to cross 6R at Tango. First Officer noticed the other carrier coming right to left down Taxiway Golf and asked the Captain if he saw the other carrier. We were never told to hold short of Golf or give way to the other carrier. The Captain said he did and held short of Golf Taxiway on Tango. Just after the other carrier passed; the Tower cleared us for position and hold on 6L. As we taxied across the hold short line; the other carrier asked Tower if they were still cleared for takeoff. The Captain stopped the jet short of the runway but passed the hold short line. The Tower then instructed us to taxi down and then clear of the runway. We asked if a 180 would work better and Tower cleared us for the 180 back onto Tango then right on Taxiway Golf. The other carrier departed 6L; then we were cleared for takeoff. We had a runway incursion due to Tower clearing us for position and hold; when it had previously cleared a regional jet for a full length departure. The Cleveland Airport operational setup when using 6L and 6R seems questionable. Ground has planes switch to Tower extremely early; and it seems that there was a lot of confusion between Ground and Tower. Also; if we were going to follow another carrier for takeoff; why did we not just follow them to the runway? Ground/Tower crossed the other carrier on November and then had us go down to Tango. This set up our taxiway/runway incursion. I never heard the other carrier get cleared for takeoff. How early did Tower clear the plane for takeoff? We had to switch back to Ground when other carrier had us blocked back at Pad 5. Is that when the takeoff clearance was issued? As Aircrew; we knew Ground/Tower had made 2 mistakes prior to our clearance for position and hold. We should have slowed down and been ready for additional problems.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 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.