 |
37000 Feet | Browse and search NASA's Aviation Safety Reporting System |
|
Similar callsigns and heavy traffic result in the wrong aircraft taxiing into position.
| Attributes | |
| ACN | 838570 |
| Time | |
| Date | 200906 |
| Local Time Of Day | 1801-2400 |
| Place | |
| Locale Reference | ZZZ.Airport |
| State Reference | IL |
| Environment | |
| Flight Conditions | VMC |
| Light | Daylight |
| Aircraft 1 | |
| Make Model Name | B737-700 |
| Flight Phase | Taxi |
| Flight Plan | IFR |
| Person 1 | |
| Function | First Officer |
| Experience | Flight Crew Last 90 Days 260 Flight Crew Type 600 |
| Person 2 | |
| Function | Captain |
| Experience | Flight Crew Last 90 Days 149 |
| Events | |
| Anomaly | ATC Issue All Types Ground Incursion Runway |
Narrative:
Flight was number one holding short of runway. There was an expectation of the call to 'position and hold.' I; as the first officer; heard what I thought was our flight position and hold. I responded to that instruction with; 'position and hold runway xxc air carrier abc.' the captain then pushed up power and proceeded on to runway xxc. The tower then cleared another company flight number to takeoff runway xxc. I then told the tower that our flight understood we were cleared in to position and hold. Then captain then began a 180 degree turn back off the runway. Then there seemed to be some confusion on the part of the tower as to who was on the runway/cleared for takeoff and who was clearing. As we exited the runway the previous mentioned company flight took the runway and was cleared for takeoff. The tower then said that he may have used the wrong callsign when issuing the position and hold clearance and not to worry about the incursion. Our flight was then cleared to position and hold and we departed without further incident. The captain and I talked about the event later in the flight and neither of us could confirm with 100% assurance the we in fact heard the proper callsign for position and hold but we both agreed that we thought that is what we heard. We then agreed that we were both 100% certain that we did hear my response to the clearance to position and hold with the proper callsign.
Original NASA ASRS Text
Title: Similar callsigns and heavy traffic result in the wrong aircraft taxiing into position.
Narrative: Flight was number one holding short of runway. There was an expectation of the call to 'position and hold.' I; as the First Officer; heard what I thought was our flight position and hold. I responded to that instruction with; 'Position and hold Runway XXC Air Carrier ABC.' The Captain then pushed up power and proceeded on to Runway XXC. The Tower then cleared another Company flight number to takeoff Runway XXC. I then told the Tower that our flight understood we were cleared in to position and hold. Then Captain then began a 180 degree turn back off the runway. Then there seemed to be some confusion on the part of the Tower as to who was on the runway/cleared for takeoff and who was clearing. As we exited the runway the previous mentioned Company flight took the runway and was cleared for takeoff. The Tower then said that he may have used the wrong callsign when issuing the position and hold clearance and not to worry about the incursion. Our flight was then cleared to position and hold and we departed without further incident. The Captain and I talked about the event later in the flight and neither of us could confirm with 100% assurance the we in fact heard the proper callsign for position and hold but we both agreed that we thought that is what we heard. We then agreed that we were both 100% certain that we did hear my response to the clearance to position and hold with the proper callsign.
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.