Narrative:

The captain landed on runway 21L and exited at W2. We were given instructions to taxi to parking via south on whiskey; tango; juliet 9 contact ramp. We were given a gate and I told the captain as he was taxing that it might be easier to get there by eventually going down kilo; and that I could ask ground for this route as we approached J9. He said we should stay with the original route and I agreed; because I really wasn't sure one way was better than the other. About half way between W2 and T on west the flight attendant chimed the flight deck. I answered; because I thought maybe there might be a problem like a passenger getting out of their seat early. The flight attendant informed me that he had forgotten to tell us about the need for a wheelchair at the gate. I switched my radio back to metro ground and remember at that time seeing our aircraft approaching a hold short line for a runway. I said 'runway' to the captain and started adding pressure to the brakes. Immediately; if not simultaneously; the captain applied brakes and brought the aircraft to a stop short of the hold short line for runway 9R/27L. Then metro ground said; 'I see you missed your turn'; and asked if we could make the right turn onto T5 and back onto T westbound. We were able to this and taxied uneventfully to parking.we almost entered a runway without a clearance. This event occurred even though I believe both the captain and I were very familiar with this taxi route; and are especially comfortable during daylight hours. It was dark now; the turn onto tango is not obvious at night. Runway 9R/27L hold short line is not well lit; probably because this runway is rarely active and was not active that evening. We missed the turn for what I think may be a number of reasons. I had distracted the captain with unnecessary concerns with how to get to our gate; the flight attendant called about a wheelchair and I lost situational awareness; assuming the captain new exactly where he was going. He had probably done this route many times before and in the previous four days he had been very competent at taxiing and following ATC clearances.finally; it was night; the route was not obvious and it was the last leg of a five day trip.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Distracted by ancillary duties while taxiing to their gate; the flight crew of a CL65 missed a turn and nearly encroached on a runway they were not cleared to cross.

Narrative: The Captain landed on Runway 21L and exited at W2. We were given instructions to taxi to parking via South on Whiskey; Tango; Juliet 9 contact Ramp. We were given a gate and I told the Captain as he was taxing that it might be easier to get there by eventually going down Kilo; and that I could ask Ground for this route as we approached J9. He said we should stay with the original route and I agreed; because I really wasn't sure one way was better than the other. About half way between W2 and T on W the Flight Attendant chimed the flight deck. I answered; because I thought maybe there might be a problem like a passenger getting out of their seat early. The Flight Attendant informed me that he had forgotten to tell us about the need for a wheelchair at the gate. I switched my radio back to Metro Ground and remember at that time seeing our aircraft approaching a hold short line for a runway. I said 'runway' to the Captain and started adding pressure to the brakes. Immediately; if not simultaneously; the Captain applied brakes and brought the aircraft to a stop short of the hold short line for Runway 9R/27L. Then Metro Ground said; 'I see you missed your turn'; and asked if we could make the right turn onto T5 and back onto T westbound. We were able to this and taxied uneventfully to parking.We almost entered a runway without a clearance. This event occurred even though I believe both the Captain and I were very familiar with this taxi route; and are especially comfortable during daylight hours. It was dark now; the turn onto Tango is not obvious at night. Runway 9R/27L hold short line is not well lit; probably because this runway is rarely active and was not active that evening. We missed the turn for what I think may be a number of reasons. I had distracted the Captain with unnecessary concerns with how to get to our gate; the Flight Attendant called about a wheelchair and I lost situational awareness; assuming the Captain new exactly where he was going. He had probably done this route many times before and in the previous four days he had been very competent at taxiing and following ATC clearances.Finally; it was night; the route was not obvious and it was the last leg of a five day trip.

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.