Narrative:

The first officer was the pilot flying for the approach for runway 4R (ILS). Landed uneventfully took control at 60 KTS and exited onto high speed taxiway J. Instructed to taxi P and east as this would expedite our waiting time for the alley and our gate. On the previous flight we had been instructed to taxi J to hold short 4L. The taxi instruction was read back by the first officer and I in turn read it back to him. I had both VHF 1 on the tower frequency and VHF 2 on the apron frequency. I inadvertently missed the P taxiway and continued on taxiway J. The first officer did not notice this deviation as he temporarily had his head down. Perhaps due to the radio chatter on both frequencies and our previous routing from earlier in the day; I temporarily lost my situational awareness. I became aware that I had missed the P taxiway and started to focus on that. As a result of this temporary lack of focus I crossed the hold short line for runway 4L. We immediately came to a full stop. I instructed the first officer to tell the tower we had missed the P taxiway. One aircraft departed 4L before we were cleared across 4L on J to then taxi south and a to the gate. Tower indicated to us that ground would have a number for us to call due to the pilot deviation from instruction. I apologized for the mishap and provided all the necessary details that were asked of me. I was then instructed to notify the necessary parties involved. I subsequently called the chief pilot and left a message followed by a call to the flight duty officer whom I explained the details of this situation. I was instructed to document what transpired in an email format. The root causes were: temporary lack of situational awareness; focusing on missed taxi instruction; missed taxi instruction due to distraction of radio chatter on two frequencies and familiarity of the taxi instruction earlier in the day. The first officer had his head down performing his after landing flow without being instructed to do so. This compounded the issue as we did not have two sets of eyes looking outside. The corrective actions I need to take: minimize distractions while in critical phase of flight/taxi-only monitor one frequency at a time. If any doubt exists; bring aircraft to an immediate stop and clarify instruction. Ensure both crew members have their heads up looking outside during all critical phases.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A Captain lost his situational awareness and held short of a EWR runway on the incorrect taxiway after crossing the hold short line while the Tower Controller was attending to incoming and departing traffic.

Narrative: The First Officer was the pilot flying for the approach for Runway 4R (ILS). Landed uneventfully took control at 60 KTS and exited onto high speed Taxiway J. Instructed to taxi P and E as this would expedite our waiting time for the alley and our gate. On the previous flight we had been instructed to taxi J to hold short 4L. The taxi instruction was read back by the First Officer and I in turn read it back to him. I had both VHF 1 on the Tower frequency and VHF 2 on the Apron frequency. I inadvertently missed the P Taxiway and continued on Taxiway J. The First Officer did not notice this deviation as he temporarily had his head down. Perhaps due to the radio chatter on both frequencies and our previous routing from earlier in the day; I temporarily lost my situational awareness. I became aware that I had missed the P Taxiway and started to focus on that. As a result of this temporary lack of focus I crossed the hold short line for Runway 4L. We immediately came to a full stop. I instructed the First Officer to tell the Tower we had missed the P Taxiway. One aircraft departed 4L before we were cleared across 4L on J to then taxi S and A to the gate. Tower indicated to us that Ground would have a number for us to call due to the PILOT DEVIATION FROM INSTRUCTION. I apologized for the mishap and provided all the necessary details that were asked of me. I was then instructed to notify the necessary parties involved. I subsequently called the Chief Pilot and left a message followed by a call to the Flight Duty Officer whom I explained the details of this situation. I was instructed to document what transpired in an email format. The root causes were: Temporary lack of situational awareness; focusing on missed taxi instruction; missed taxi instruction due to distraction of radio chatter on two frequencies and familiarity of the taxi instruction earlier in the day. The First Officer had his head down performing his after landing flow without being instructed to do so. This compounded the issue as we did not have two sets of eyes looking outside. The corrective actions I need to take: Minimize distractions while in critical phase of flight/taxi-only monitor one frequency at a time. If any doubt exists; bring aircraft to an immediate stop and clarify instruction. Ensure both crew members have their heads up looking outside during all critical phases.

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.