Air carrier captain reports receiving a nonstandard taxi clearance and the first officer reading it ...

Narrative:

Enroute to runway 22R crew received; from ATC; instructions to 'taxi to 22R via U; Y; K4; K'. This was a 'non-standard' routing. This was a 'threat'. First officer read back 'U; Y; to 22R'. This was an error. Captain and jumpseat pilot failed to catch this mistake. This was an error. ATC failed to pick up on the incomplete 'readback'. This was an error. Crew was busy (distracted) with pre-departure tasks. This was an error. As the aircraft approached the south edge of Y-K4 intersection.... The first officer announced 'stop'! This was the action that 'broke the chain of errors'. (The taxiway was blocked off with construction barriers.) the captain quickly brought the aircraft to a complete stop. Sufficient space was available to make a left turn and proceed with the taxi. The rest of the flight was uneventful. Valuable lessons were (re)learned.preventive measures:1. Carefully screen pre-departure NOTAMS. (Often very difficult with several pages of detailed construction related NOTAMS.) 2. Carefully listen to and read back ATC instructions. 3. Encourage ATC to listen and respond to incomplete read backs. 4. Encourage airport operations to mark closed taxiways with more conspicuous lighting. 5. Captains need to prioritize the many tasks required during taxi and delegate the critical tasks. Eg.'...you taxi; I'm heads down.'

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Air Carrier Captain reports receiving a nonstandard taxi clearance and the First Officer reading it back incorrectly. The crew nearly taxis onto a closed portion of Taxiway Y at DTW.

Narrative: Enroute to Runway 22R crew received; from ATC; instructions to 'taxi to 22R via U; Y; K4; K'. This was a 'non-standard' routing. This was a 'threat'. First Officer read back 'U; Y; to 22R'. This was an error. Captain and Jumpseat pilot failed to catch this mistake. This was an error. ATC failed to pick up on the incomplete 'readback'. This was an error. Crew was busy (distracted) with pre-departure tasks. This was an error. As the aircraft approached the south edge of Y-K4 intersection.... The First Officer announced 'STOP'! This was the action that 'broke the chain of errors'. (The taxiway was blocked off with construction barriers.) The Captain quickly brought the aircraft to a complete stop. Sufficient space was available to make a left turn and proceed with the taxi. The rest of the flight was uneventful. Valuable lessons were (re)learned.Preventive Measures:1. Carefully screen pre-departure NOTAMS. (Often very difficult with several pages of detailed construction related NOTAMS.) 2. Carefully listen to and read back ATC instructions. 3. Encourage ATC to listen and respond to incomplete read backs. 4. Encourage Airport Operations to mark closed taxiways with more conspicuous lighting. 5. Captains need to prioritize the many tasks required during taxi and delegate the critical tasks. eg.'...you taxi; I'm heads down.'

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	912501
Time
Date	201010
Local Time Of Day	1801-2400
Place
Locale Reference	DTW.Airport
State Reference	MI
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Commercial Fixed Wing
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Taxi
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Function	Check Pilot
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP) Flight Crew Multiengine
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 250 Flight Crew Total 18000 Flight Crew Type 6000
Events
Anomaly	Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy Deviation - Procedural Clearance Ground Incursion Taxiway

Air carrier captain reports receiving a nonstandard taxi clearance and the first officer reading it back incorrectly. The crew nearly taxis onto a closed portion of taxiway Y at dtw.