Narrative:

As the first officer on flight that had just landed on runway 13R at dfw (I made the landing) I had given control of the aircraft back to the captain during rollout on high speed exit. We exited onto a relatively new taxiway a and were told to transition to taxiway 31 at bravo. At this time I was instructed by the captain to switch from ATC to company radio to confirm our gate assignment. This required looking inside the cockpit for approximately 20 seconds to change radios and write down gate #, etc. When I came back on ATC and got back in the loop, I looked out my window to the right and saw runway lights. At the very same time, the captain announced we were crossing 18R. The instructions given by the controller (tower) as we exited the high speed turnoff during landing rollout were very poor, in my opinion. The taxiway that we were told to transition to was on the other side of active runway 18R. Supplemental information from acn 132526: do not remember instructions to hold short of runway 18R, but my intentions were to do so. Turned left on taxiway D, immediate right onto taxiway B and rolled immediately onto runway 18R. Runway 18R markings, if any, were not noticed. Landing traffic was exiting runway 18R at high speed taxiway 2S.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: POOR WORDING OF TAXI INSTRUCTIONS BY GND CTLR LEAVES FLT CREW OF MLG UNSURE WHETHER OR NOT THEY HAVE CLRNC TO CROSS AN ACTIVE RWY. TRAFFIC THAT HAD LANDED ON THAT OTHER RWY CLEARING AT THE TIME.

Narrative: AS THE F/O ON FLT THAT HAD JUST LANDED ON RWY 13R AT DFW (I MADE THE LNDG) I HAD GIVEN CTL OF THE ACFT BACK TO THE CAPT DURING ROLLOUT ON HIGH SPD EXIT. WE EXITED ONTO A RELATIVELY NEW TXWY A AND WERE TOLD TO TRANSITION TO TXWY 31 AT BRAVO. AT THIS TIME I WAS INSTRUCTED BY THE CAPT TO SWITCH FROM ATC TO COMPANY RADIO TO CONFIRM OUR GATE ASSIGNMENT. THIS REQUIRED LOOKING INSIDE THE COCKPIT FOR APPROX 20 SECS TO CHANGE RADIOS AND WRITE DOWN GATE #, ETC. WHEN I CAME BACK ON ATC AND GOT BACK IN THE LOOP, I LOOKED OUT MY WINDOW TO THE RIGHT AND SAW RWY LIGHTS. AT THE VERY SAME TIME, THE CAPT ANNOUNCED WE WERE XING 18R. THE INSTRUCTIONS GIVEN BY THE CTLR (TWR) AS WE EXITED THE HIGH SPD TURNOFF DURING LNDG ROLLOUT WERE VERY POOR, IN MY OPINION. THE TXWY THAT WE WERE TOLD TO TRANSITION TO WAS ON THE OTHER SIDE OF ACTIVE RWY 18R. SUPPLEMENTAL INFO FROM ACN 132526: DO NOT REMEMBER INSTRUCTIONS TO HOLD SHORT OF RWY 18R, BUT MY INTENTIONS WERE TO DO SO. TURNED LEFT ON TXWY D, IMMEDIATE RIGHT ONTO TXWY B AND ROLLED IMMEDIATELY ONTO RWY 18R. RWY 18R MARKINGS, IF ANY, WERE NOT NOTICED. LNDG TFC WAS EXITING RWY 18R AT HIGH SPD TXWY 2S.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2007 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.