Narrative:

I was the first officer on a operating from uaaa. The crew was told to plan on departing uaaa on runway 23L. After engine start the crew was cleared to taxi from the ramp via laxiway left; enter runway 23R at the departure end; back taxi on 23R nearly the full length of that runway to taxiway F; turn right on taxiway F and hold short of runway 23L. We complied with the clearance and entered runway 23R for the back taxi. During the back taxi we noticed the landing lights of an aircraft on final out in the distance ahead of us. This caused some concern as uaaa normally lands aircraft on 23R and departs them on 23L. If the aircraft on final was for 23R (which we were currently taxiing on) there would have been a serious conflict. I contacted tower and asked them to confirm that the aircraft on final was landing on 23L; which they confirmed. While this was an appropriate answer; we were still concerned as there are sometimes language problems between the controllers at uaaa and english-speaking flight crews. As we approached taxiway F we were told to 'hold short of 23L on foxtrot'. We noticed two hold short lines on taxiway F. The closer of the two was labeled 'CAT ii/III 23L'. The captain asked 'is this where we stop?' in response another crewmember stated that 'this is the CAT 2 hold; the next is the CAT 1 hold'. As the captain began to cross the first hold line the crew noticed that the second hold line was actually a hold line for 23R. (We made this determination based on the fact that the dashed lines and the solid lines were reversed; with the dashed lines being closer to us than the solid lines). We realized that the 'CAT ii/III 23L' was in fact the only hold short line for 23L on taxiway F. The captain quickly stopped the airplane with a portion of the nose hanging over the hold short line. Simultaneously the tower instructed 'air carrier xx hold position.' we held our position while the aircraft on final landed on 23L. After the other aircraft landed; we were cleared onto 23L and departed uneventfully. As we discussed the incident during cruise; the captain stated that he was not entirely confident that the aircraft on final was landing on 23L; and suspected that it might actually be lining up on 23R. As a result he wanted to get 'the tail clear of 23R' and that concern might have contributed to the incident.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: An air carrier at UAAA (Almaty; Kazakhstan) incurred Runway 23L after back taxiing on Runway 23R which is normally used for landings. Because of the language barrier and uncertainty about the landing aircraft's clearance the crew exited one runway and slightly incurred Runway 23L attempting to completely clear Runway 23R.

Narrative: I was the First Officer on a operating from UAAA. The crew was told to plan on departing UAAA on Runway 23L. After engine start the crew was cleared to taxi from the ramp via Laxiway L; enter Runway 23R at the departure end; back taxi on 23R nearly the full length of that runway to Taxiway F; turn right on Taxiway F and hold short of Runway 23L. We complied with the clearance and entered Runway 23R for the back taxi. During the back taxi we noticed the landing lights of an aircraft on final out in the distance ahead of us. This caused some concern as UAAA normally lands aircraft on 23R and departs them on 23L. If the aircraft on final was for 23R (which we were currently taxiing on) there would have been a serious conflict. I contacted tower and asked them to confirm that the aircraft on final was landing on 23L; which they confirmed. While this was an appropriate answer; we were still concerned as there are sometimes language problems between the controllers at UAAA and English-speaking flight crews. As we approached Taxiway F we were told to 'hold short of 23L on Foxtrot'. We noticed two hold short lines on Taxiway F. The closer of the two was labeled 'CAT II/III 23L'. The captain asked 'Is this where we stop?' In response another crewmember stated that 'This is the CAT 2 hold; the next is the CAT 1 hold'. As the captain began to cross the first hold line the crew noticed that the second hold line was actually a hold line for 23R. (We made this determination based on the fact that the dashed lines and the solid lines were reversed; with the dashed lines being closer to us than the solid lines). We realized that the 'CAT II/III 23L' was in fact the ONLY hold short line for 23L on Taxiway F. The captain quickly stopped the airplane with a portion of the nose hanging over the hold short line. Simultaneously the tower instructed 'Air Carrier XX hold position.' We held our position while the aircraft on final landed on 23L. After the other aircraft landed; we were cleared onto 23L and departed uneventfully. As we discussed the incident during cruise; the captain stated that he was not entirely confident that the aircraft on final was landing on 23L; and suspected that it might actually be lining up on 23R. As a result he wanted to get 'the tail clear of 23R' and that concern might have contributed to the incident.

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.