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Hold short or cross? Runway 07R after landing at VHHH

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Hold short or cross? Runway 07R after landing at VHHH

You are pilot-in-command of a Cessna 172, callsign B-HKA, arriving at Hong Kong International Airport (VHHH) at 14:20 local after a local flight. Wind 090° at 12 kt, visibility 10 km, runway 07L in use. After touchdown you vacate at taxiway B4 and Tower says: B-HKA, vacate left via B4, contact Ground 121.6. On the Ground frequency a Boeing 777 is being given pushback instructions, and when Ground calls you the transmission is quick: B-HKA, taxi to the Business Aviation Centre via B and A, hold short of Runway 07R at A. You are tired, the apron layout is unfamiliar, and you read back: B-HKA, taxi to the Business Aviation Centre via B and A, cross Runway 07R at A. Ground immediately replies: B-HKA, negative, hold short of Runway 07R at A, traffic on final.

1. Ground has just corrected your readback. Explain what went wrong in your readback, what you must do before crossing Runway 07R, and what you should transmit now.

Read the worked answer
  • What went wrong: your readback turned hold short of Runway 07R at A into cross Runway 07R at A. A hold-short instruction is a mandatory readback item and must be read back in full, including the words hold short and the runway designator. A readback that changes the meaning is worse than no readback, because the controller may believe you have accepted a clearance you were never given - a runway incursion.
  • Before crossing: stop before the runway holding point markings. Do not cross until you hear an explicit crossing clearance - cross Runway 07R at A or cleared to cross Runway 07R - and have read it back.
  • What to transmit now: B-HKA, hold short of Runway 07R at A, B-HKA.
  • Principle: taxi to ... never implies a crossing. Every runway crossing needs its own explicit clearance, in both directions, even when the taxi route obviously continues across the runway.

2. A few minutes later, after crossing, Ground issues a new taxi instruction with three turns, and you do not catch the middle one. What phraseology do you use, and what do you do with the aircraft?

Read the worked answer
  • Do not acknowledge what you did not hear. Your readback is the controller's only check that the clearance reached you correctly; a guessed readback defeats it.
  • Phraseology: B-HKA, say again the taxi route (or say again all after A if you caught the first part). If you heard the route but are unsure of it: B-HKA, confirm taxi via B and A to the Business Aviation Centre. If the layout is genuinely confusing, or you are unfamiliar: B-HKA, request progressive taxi.
  • Aircraft handling: continue only along the segment you are certain of. If your position is ambiguous, slow down and stop clear of the runway and of taxiway junctions, keep a good lookout for following traffic, and re-establish contact before moving again. Never stop on or near a runway holding point without telling Ground.
  • Standby from Ground means the controller has heard you and will call back - it is not an approval to move.
  • When the corrected route comes, read back the whole clearance, including any hold-short instruction, in one transmission.

3. You reach the holding point. Tower transmits: `B-HKA, after the landing Boeing 777, line up and wait Runway 07R.` Give your readback and explain exactly what you may and may not do.

Read the worked answer
  • Readback: B-HKA, after the landing Boeing 777, line up and wait Runway 07R.
  • Authority: line up and wait authorises you to enter the runway and position for departure. It is not a take-off clearance. You may not start the take-off roll until you have received cleared for take-off and read it back in full.
  • The conditional phrase: after the landing Boeing 777 puts the timing on you. You must positively identify that aircraft, see it land, and see it pass clear of your position before entering the runway. If you cannot identify it, or you lose sight of it, do not enter: transmit B-HKA, traffic not in sight, holding position.
  • Keep the runway and approach in sight, listen out on Tower, and be ready - when cleared for take-off comes, read it back and depart without delay, because the controller is sequencing traffic behind you.