Narrative:

We landed on runway 28 in atl. Tower informed us we did not have a gate. I held short of runway 27L until cleared to cross. There was another company flight on frequency with the number abcd. We crossed the runway when tower cleared us to cross. After crossing 27L and following instructions to hold short of runway 27R; tower said 'abcd you were supposed to hold short on romeo back there.' I believe the mistake he was addressing was my failure to hold short of romeo 7 on romeo. The purpose of this being to wait on a gate. I did not feel we had crossed the actual runway in error. But then after realizing the similarity of the call signs; nearness of the flights to each other and the fact that controllers and pilots are human; I began to get very worried that someone along the way may have misinterpreted an instruction. I don't believe we crossed the runway without clearance. Tower did not give us any sort or reprimand. The similarity of abcd and abce and the way that mouthful of syllables sound so similar and unclear on the radio caused me to submit this report. I do wish that there was a way to keep all the company call signs from being so perpetually similar. It is not just this case; it is across the board. The 4-digit format is hard to get out on the radio. Even after getting used to it.

Google
 

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Air carrier described confused runway crossing event after landing at ATL; alleging four digit company call signs can easily lead to missed and/or transposed digits in communications with ATC.

Narrative: We landed on Runway 28 in ATL. Tower informed us we did not have a gate. I held short of Runway 27L until cleared to cross. There was another company flight on frequency with the number ABCD. We crossed the runway when Tower cleared us to cross. After crossing 27L and following instructions to hold short of Runway 27R; Tower said 'ABCD you were supposed to hold short on ROMEO back there.' I believe the mistake he was addressing was my failure to hold short of ROMEO 7 on ROMEO. The purpose of this being to wait on a gate. I did not feel we had crossed the actual runway in error. But then after realizing the similarity of the call signs; nearness of the flights to each other and the fact that controllers and pilots are human; I began to get very worried that someone along the way may have misinterpreted an instruction. I don't believe we crossed the runway without clearance. Tower did not give us any sort or reprimand. The similarity of ABCD and ABCE and the way that mouthful of syllables sound so similar and unclear on the radio caused me to submit this report. I do wish that there was a way to keep all the company call signs from being so perpetually similar. It is not just this case; it is across the board. The 4-digit format is hard to get out on the radio. Even after getting used to it.

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.