Narrative:

Like most professional pilots; I have learned that it usually takes several aspects all lined up at the wrong time to create the potential for errors. Today was day 3 of 3 for me and after a short night; caused by weather delays; the long day began. The first leg of the day started off with delay for a mechanical issue. The second leg; to dtw; just moments before leaving was given ground stop. This reverted to a 30 minute delay for dtw's weather; which was problematic due to strong and gusty winds from 270 degrees. Like many airports; spring time winds can force a swap to a less desirable configuration and slow acceptance rates. I coordinated with gate control and timed the push so as to minimize passenger time away from the gate. As we arrived; the winds had lessened a bit; but still mandated the use of 27L and 27R. The other runways were beyond our crosswind limits. Later as we prepared and briefed the departure runway and departure; we noted that with the winds 27L and 27R were still the only usable runways. As we taxied out; we were cleared as we expected 27R; yankee; victor and hold short of foxtrot. This is where the division of ground controller frequencies occurs. After switching we were cleared: '27R; victor; all the way down...' which was a bit non-standard; and the controller seemed to possibly be somewhat newish. Shortly after and additional clearance was issued that we were' 'cleared to cross 21R' which sounded like someone had pointed out the incompleteness of the original taxi clearance. It was obvious; since 21R wasn't being used. As I got near the end of victor; I was shifting my focus to the waiting traffic and projected positioning in the pad adjacent to 27R. My rather sharp first officer then said: 'are we cleared to cross this'? My visual view in this area was of a lot of concrete going in all different directions. The plate doesn't quite show it; but it looks like an older runway remnant crosses in this area. As the words; 'this isn't even a runway' came out I saw the paint for announcing 21L slide under the nose. The controller hadn't mentioned holding short of 21L and I also held the impression that I was cleared 'all the way down'. So to be honest; my mindset was that I had been cleared; albeit via somewhat non-standard terms. The factors that definitely contributed to what should have been a precautionary query about 21L were: tired from a short night; non-standard verbiage and the minimal visual cues in this less than often used corner of an intricate airport. The yellow flashing lights common to so many modern day airports; would have helped greatly.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: MD80 flight crew reports crossing Runway 21L at DTW on Taxiway Victor without clearance to do so.

Narrative: Like most professional pilots; I have learned that it usually takes several aspects all lined up at the wrong time to create the potential for errors. Today was day 3 of 3 for me and after a short night; caused by weather delays; the long day began. The first leg of the day started off with delay for a mechanical issue. The second leg; to DTW; just moments before leaving was given ground stop. This reverted to a 30 minute delay for DTW's weather; which was problematic due to strong and gusty winds from 270 degrees. Like many airports; spring time winds can force a swap to a less desirable configuration and slow acceptance rates. I coordinated with Gate Control and timed the push so as to minimize passenger time away from the gate. As we arrived; the winds had lessened a bit; but still mandated the use of 27L and 27R. The other runways were beyond our crosswind limits. Later as we prepared and briefed the departure runway and departure; we noted that with the winds 27L and 27R were still the only usable runways. As we taxied out; we were cleared as we expected 27R; Yankee; Victor and hold short of Foxtrot. This is where the division of Ground Controller frequencies occurs. After switching we were cleared: '27R; Victor; all the way down...' Which was a bit non-standard; and the Controller seemed to possibly be somewhat newish. Shortly after and additional clearance was issued that we were' 'Cleared to cross 21R' which sounded like someone had pointed out the incompleteness of the original taxi clearance. It was obvious; since 21R wasn't being used. As I got near the end of Victor; I was shifting my focus to the waiting traffic and projected positioning in the pad adjacent to 27R. My rather sharp First Officer then said: 'Are we cleared to cross this'? My visual view in this area was of a lot of concrete going in all different directions. The plate doesn't quite show it; but it looks like an older runway remnant crosses in this area. As the words; 'this isn't even a runway' came out I saw the paint for announcing 21L slide under the nose. The Controller hadn't mentioned holding short of 21L and I also held the impression that I was cleared 'all the way down'. So to be honest; my mindset was that I had been cleared; albeit via somewhat non-standard terms. The factors that definitely contributed to what should have been a precautionary query about 21L were: tired from a short night; non-standard verbiage and the minimal visual cues in this less than often used corner of an intricate airport. The yellow flashing lights common to so many modern day airports; would have helped greatly.

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.