Don't Taxi Down the Road

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pelmet
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Don't Taxi Down the Road

Post by pelmet »

It can be very helpful to get progressive taxi instructions from ATC but.....keep in mind at a big airport, they may not be able to see your exact position from the tower which could be quite far away. I am not sure if they use ground radar when available but in the end, controllers can make errors as well. At a large airport as was the case here, there will be proper taxiway markings such as a yellow line and signs which can be used for confirmation. Familiarity of taxiway markings may provide the cue that you are about to enter something other than a taxiway. And in the end, you still have to avoid obstacles. This aircraft hit a stop sign. If you see a stop sign on the taxiway you are about to enter, it might not be a taxiway.


C-GRFF, a privately operated Piper PA-46-350P aircraft, was conducting an IFR flight from Columbia/Metro (KCAE), SC to West Palm Beach/North Palm Beach County General Aviation (F45), FL with only the pilot on board. Upon receiving progressive taxi instructions to the active runway in good, daylight weather conditions and visibility, the pilot stopped the aircraft and asked Ground Control if he should turn left “here”. Ground Control confirmed, and the pilot proceeded without realizing that it was a service road and not a taxiway. Subsequently, the bottom of the aircraft’s left wing collided with a low stop sign. The pilot secured the aircraft, had it inspected, and continued to his destination. The aircraft was later flown to Canada where internal structural damage to the left wing and flap were found.
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broken_slinky
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Re: Don't Taxi Down the Road

Post by broken_slinky »

The service roads there look pretty narrow. Barely wide enough for two cars to pass. Make for a really tight taxi in a 172 let alone a Malibu.
How many larger airports don't have center lines painted on taxiways? That'd be my first dead giveaway. Maybe the STOP painted on the asphalt instead of hold short lines would be the next giveaway?
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pelmet
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Re: Don't Taxi Down the Road

Post by pelmet »

broken_slinky wrote: Fri Nov 16, 2018 1:19 pm The service roads there look pretty narrow. Barely wide enough for two cars to pass. Make for a really tight taxi in a 172 let alone a Malibu.
How many larger airports don't have center lines painted on taxiways? That'd be my first dead giveaway. Maybe the STOP painted on the asphalt instead of hold short lines would be the next giveaway?
Thanks, I did take a look at Google Earth prior to making my initial post and noticed how narrow the service roads are as well. It's pretty vague now but if I remember correctly, as a private pilot, I almost entered a service road many, many years ago at a fairly large airport trying to go from a taxiway to what I assumed was the entrance to the FBO but instead led to other buildings. I think it may have been some vehicle fuel pumps(or something resembling fuel pumps) that caught my eye and tricked me and that the other pilot with me pointed out the error. I remember it being a fairly narrow road although wide enough for the gear of a Cessna 150.

In the case of the Malibu, the report said they hit a stop sign, so it may have been in an area where there was no STOP painted on the road.
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FlyGy
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Re: Don't Taxi Down the Road

Post by FlyGy »

I don't get into big airports, but aren't service roads painted with white lines and taxiways painted in yellow?
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