Narrative:

This was a routine flight in the middle of a three day trip. We left on schedule and did not feel rushed. We were pushed back and sent to our spot after normal disconnect. Approaching our assigned spot; I understood the clearance to be to taxi to runway 8R via november. The copilot asked the controller for a repeat; but I understood it the first time. I saw and crossed the line depicting the non-movement area controlled by ramp onto the area controlled by ground control; but did not interpret this as taxiway north. My map was out; but I was not referencing it at the moment because I knew that there were two taxiways parallel to runway 8R between the ramp and the runway; mike and november. I saw the first taxiway beyond the ramp was mike; which I had positively identified by the standard black sign with yellow marking; by process of elimination; the next one would be november. Note the flawed logic here that is pivotal to what happened. I was devoting full attention on acquiring the same type of black sign to positively identify november while the copilot was reading me closeout information. With a reasonably slow taxi I crossed mike and made a bid to turn down the next one. As instantly as I was looking for the taxiway marking I was expecting to see; I looked right past the several hold short markings that undoubtedly were there. While I had not seen the verification I was seeking; if it had registered as doubt; I would have certainly stopped the airplane and vocalized it. I had started the turn west when I saw the white edge stripe and the dashed centerline characteristic of a runway ahead of me. Correctly interpreting what I saw as a runway that I was about to turn onto; with an aircraft on the runway; I aggressively turned to point my airplane between two blue taxi lights; preparing to put it in the grass if necessary. There were some radio calls on our frequency about the situation that I missed; but the controller seemed calm and without imminent concern. The controller issued a clearance at that point; something like join taxiway M. It took me a minute to be sure I had room to make the turn; but was able and was put in line for takeoff with very little else said about it from tower. This event had many of the ingredients of runway incursions we have learned about in training. I allowed expectations to affect my situational awareness and the copilot was heads down right at a crucial point. While I don't think complacency played any role in this event; I do think my many times in mia; in combination with relatively few recently; negatively affected my situational awareness. The sense of familiarity was my enemy; despite my awareness of construction changes I still had an overall sense of equilibrium about the airport layout. I am speculating that taxiway north has fewer signs of the type I was looking for because of its continuous connection to the ramp. I should have been looking for markings painted on the surface. Because I mixed present airport configuration with past experience I was actually closer to the runway than I thought possible. I have respect for the seriousness of a runway incursion and this experience illustrates the endless need for high vigilance.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A B757 Captain taxiied onto Runway 8R after leaving the ramp and mistaking taxiway Mike for November and so then believing Runway 8R was Taxiway M.

Narrative: This was a routine flight in the middle of a three day trip. We left on schedule and did not feel rushed. We were pushed back and sent to our spot after normal disconnect. Approaching our assigned spot; I understood the clearance to be to taxi to Runway 8R via November. The Copilot asked the Controller for a repeat; but I understood it the first time. I saw and crossed the line depicting the non-movement area controlled by ramp onto the area controlled by Ground Control; but did not interpret this as Taxiway N. My map was out; but I was not referencing it at the moment because I knew that there were two taxiways parallel to Runway 8R between the ramp and the runway; Mike and November. I saw the first taxiway beyond the ramp was Mike; which I had positively identified by the standard black sign with yellow marking; by process of elimination; the next one would be November. Note the flawed logic here that is pivotal to what happened. I was devoting full attention on acquiring the same type of black sign to positively identify November while the Copilot was reading me closeout information. With a reasonably slow taxi I crossed Mike and made a bid to turn down the next one. As instantly as I was looking for the taxiway marking I was expecting to see; I looked right past the several hold short markings that undoubtedly were there. While I had not seen the verification I was seeking; if it had registered as doubt; I would have certainly stopped the airplane and vocalized it. I had started the turn west when I saw the white edge stripe and the dashed centerline characteristic of a runway ahead of me. Correctly interpreting what I saw as a runway that I was about to turn onto; with an aircraft on the runway; I aggressively turned to point my airplane between two blue taxi lights; preparing to put it in the grass if necessary. There were some radio calls on our frequency about the situation that I missed; but the Controller seemed calm and without imminent concern. The Controller issued a clearance at that point; something like join Taxiway M. It took me a minute to be sure I had room to make the turn; but was able and was put in line for takeoff with very little else said about it from Tower. This event had many of the ingredients of runway incursions we have learned about in training. I allowed expectations to affect my situational awareness and the Copilot was heads down right at a crucial point. While I don't think complacency played any role in this event; I do think my many times in MIA; in combination with relatively few recently; negatively affected my situational awareness. The sense of familiarity was my enemy; despite my awareness of construction changes I still had an overall sense of equilibrium about the airport layout. I am speculating that Taxiway N has fewer signs of the type I was looking for because of its continuous connection to the ramp. I should have been looking for markings painted on the surface. Because I mixed present airport configuration with past experience I was actually closer to the runway than I thought possible. I have respect for the seriousness of a runway incursion and this experience illustrates the endless need for high vigilance.

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.