A B777 captain described the communications conflicts caused by the raas aural warnings at inappropr...

Narrative:

I have given raas a fair trial over several months. Raas has caused many nuisance calls at the worst time and I can say now that this technology is more of a hindrance and distraction than a safety feature. This recent event that happened is very much a common occurrence with raas and I want to point out its shortcomings. Today we are taxiing to runway 2 and approaching the designated intersection when ground gives a command to hold in present position. This communication is overridden by the raas alert 'approaching runway 20'. We needed ground to repeat the clearance. The transmission by raas and ground completely canceled each other out. Rolling out onto runway 2 tower clears us for takeoff at the same time raas decides to tell us 'on runway 20'. Again both transmissions cancel each other out and we had to ask for tower to repeat the clearance. This was a very busy time for the tower and they expected us to takeoff but instead we sat there waiting to get a confirmation. This is the wrong time to be distracted on a runway by a system that is designed to aid in runway awareness and prevent incursions. Raas is having the opposite effect with me. I just want it to stay quiet so we can focus on the controllers and not have this cockpit distraction. Lowering the volume will not solve the problem. We try and tune it out and stay focused on ATC. Deactivate raas and remove an unneeded distraction from the cockpit.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A B777 Captain described the communications conflicts caused by the RAAS aural warnings at inappropriate times. ATC's Takeoff and Hold Short clearances are issued as the aircraft approaches and enters runway simultaneous with RAAS Warnings alerting possible danger.

Narrative: I have given RAAS a fair trial over several months. RAAS has caused many nuisance calls at the worst time and I can say now that this technology is more of a hindrance and distraction than a safety feature. This recent event that happened is very much a common occurrence with RAAS and I want to point out its shortcomings. Today we are taxiing to Runway 2 and approaching the designated intersection when Ground gives a command to hold in present position. This communication is overridden by the RAAS alert 'APPROACHING RUNWAY 20'. We needed Ground to repeat the clearance. The transmission by RAAS and Ground completely canceled each other out. Rolling out onto Runway 2 Tower clears us for takeoff at the same time RAAS decides to tell us 'ON RUNWAY 20'. Again both transmissions cancel each other out and we had to ask for Tower to repeat the clearance. This was a very busy time for the Tower and they expected us to takeoff but instead we sat there waiting to get a confirmation. This is the wrong time to be distracted on a runway by a system that is designed to aid in runway awareness and prevent incursions. RAAS is having the opposite effect with me. I just want it to stay quiet so we can focus on the controllers and not have this cockpit distraction. Lowering the volume will not solve the problem. We try and tune it out and stay focused on ATC. Deactivate RAAS and remove an unneeded distraction from the cockpit.

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.

Attributes
ACN	877123
Time
Date	201003
Local Time Of Day	0001-0600
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.Airport
State Reference	US
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	B777-200
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Taxi
Flight Plan	IFR
Component
Aircraft Component	GPWS
Person 1
Function	Pilot Flying Captain
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 240 Flight Crew Total 19000 Flight Crew Type 3700
Events
Anomaly	Aircraft Equipment Problem Less Severe Deviation - Procedural Clearance

A B777 captain described the communications conflicts caused by the raas aural warnings at inappropriate times. ATC's takeoff and hold short clearances are issued as the aircraft approaches and enters runway simultaneous with raas warnings alerting possible danger.