Two similar aircraft types from the same company taxied at dtw and ATC subsequently confused the two...

Narrative:

Our flight pushed from our gate at dtw. Ramp told us to taxi via taxi lane Q to spot 4N. At 4N; ground told us to expect runway 21R and taxi via taxiway U to hold short of U8. While on U; we heard ground giving instructions to another company aircraft who was taxiing out to runway 21R via runway 9L. Approaching U8; ground told our flight to continue to runway 21R via runway 9L and taxiway M. The first officer confirmed the call sign. As I passed U8; it became apparent that ATC had confused us with the company flight already on runway 9L. Ground then cleared us to follow the airbus ahead who was entering runway 9L at taxiway G and to continue to runway 21R via runway 9L and taxiway M. Similar sounding call signs can be as difficult for ATC as they are for pilots. It would be helpful if whoever picks the flight numbers would try not to have flights with such similar sounding call signs operating at the same time at the same airport.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Two similar aircraft types from the same company taxied at DTW and ATC subsequently confused the two aircraft and issued conflicting taxi instructions.

Narrative: Our flight pushed from our gate at DTW. Ramp told us to taxi via Taxi Lane Q to Spot 4N. At 4N; Ground told us to expect Runway 21R and taxi via Taxiway U to hold short of U8. While on U; we heard Ground giving instructions to another Company aircraft who was taxiing out to Runway 21R via Runway 9L. Approaching U8; Ground told our flight to continue to Runway 21R via Runway 9L and Taxiway M. The First Officer confirmed the call sign. As I passed U8; it became apparent that ATC had confused us with the Company flight already on Runway 9L. Ground then cleared us to follow the Airbus ahead who was entering Runway 9L at Taxiway G and to continue to Runway 21R via Runway 9L and Taxiway M. Similar sounding call signs can be as difficult for ATC as they are for pilots. It would be helpful if whoever picks the flight numbers would try not to have flights with such similar sounding call signs operating at the same time at the same airport.

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	985525
Time
Date	201112
Local Time Of Day	1201-1800
Place
Locale Reference	DTW.Tower
State Reference	MI
Environment
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Medium Transport
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Taxi
Flight Plan	IFR
Aircraft 2
Make Model Name	Medium Transport
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Taxi
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Function	Captain Pilot Not Flying
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Events
Anomaly	ATC Issue All Types

Two similar aircraft types from the same company taxied at dtw and ATC subsequently confused the two aircraft and issued conflicting taxi instructions.