Narrative:

I was reaching the end of an hour long training session on the local position combined with flight data and ground. The weather was VFR and runway 02 was in use at rochester. Runway 02 is our most difficult configuration at the facility; as pilots have a very long taxi route which can become a serious issue if pilots make a mistake. Pilots have to cross runway 31 to get to the departure runway. Prior to crossing runway 31 from A6 to bravo; pilots are set up for a runway incursion on to the active runway if they don't make the slight right turn when crossing runway 31 to bravo. Pilots in smaller aircraft also cannot see taxiway bravo on the other side of the runway as the pavement is raised slightly; making the correct route not immediately obvious if they are not familiar with the airport.we had several aircraft taxiing in and out throughout our session. We had a number of what must have been low time pilots throughout this session taxiing out who had difficulty following my trainee's instructions. Partway through the session; we had a twin engine who was not making the turn when crossing runway 31. My trainee caught the pilot in time and ordered him to hold position until everything was sorted out. At the end of the session aircraft X taxied out for a VFR departure to the north. My trainee issued his taxi instructions without stating the runway for departure as he had many times during this session. I planned to mark it down on the training report. The aircraft sounded very unsure of himself coming out of the ramp; almost babbling; questioning his taxi instructions. My trainee started giving him progressive and set him up to cross runway 31 at A6. The aircraft did not make the turn to bravo as instructed and plowed on to the active runway. My trainee keyed up with a raised voice and told him to stop; aircraft X did not respond. I keyed up and told the aircraft to stop moving; telling him that he was on an active runway. At this point; the aircraft stopped on the runway after making a slight right turn; so he was now clear of the taxiway and on the runway facing the approach end. I finally got him to turn around and unplugged my trainee as he seemed fatigued and this was the second time we had an issue with aircraft on or almost on the runway in this session. Once the aircraft got down to the approach end holding short for departure; he asked to depart (I believe); and I told him to hold short as I had a small business jet eight miles out cleared to land. I had to go back and forth with him over five times before I got him to say he was holding short with his tail number. It is also a known issue that aircraft holding short for departure on runway 02 can't always hear us clearly on the frequency; as they are a mile away from the tower and our tower is only a few stories off the ground. Once the jet landed and was told to taxi down the runway and turn off at the end; aircraft X thought this transmission was for him and tried to read it back. Eventually he departed the airspace.this was the most difficult experience I have had with one particular aircraft. I haven't seen it this bad before; and it leaves me wondering if the pilot was a student who was signed off too early or was having some other issue. I could have possibly done more to prevent this outcome by correcting my trainee's use of the radio more comprehensively early on in the session. I thought he was doing a pretty good job of keeping his head up and looking out the window; but he was not running his radio efficiently. This was a significant problem for him on radar which we spent dozens of hours helping him work on. We talked about this in the debrief. He speaks in a mumble on frequency which bothers me as his trainer but rarely have I seen pilots ask for a repeat transmission. I tried to do the right thing as a trainer by stepping in before the session went too far (there was no traffic in the area when the pilot went on to the runway) but I could have done more to address the use of the frequency before it became an issue. I do feel that I have the respect of our facility's trainees; but I also think I have a reputation for being more nit-picky or detail oriented than other trainers; so I struggle to find the right balance between correcting things during the session versus waiting for the debrief.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: RST Tower Controller reported of problems with a runway configuration and aircraft not being able to hear the transmissions from Tower correctly. A taxiing aircraft crossed an active runway instead of turning onto a taxiway.

Narrative: I was reaching the end of an hour long training session on the local position combined with flight data and ground. The weather was VFR and runway 02 was in use at Rochester. Runway 02 is our most difficult configuration at the facility; as pilots have a very long taxi route which can become a serious issue if pilots make a mistake. Pilots have to cross runway 31 to get to the departure runway. Prior to crossing runway 31 from A6 to Bravo; pilots are set up for a runway incursion on to the active runway if they don't make the slight right turn when crossing runway 31 to Bravo. Pilots in smaller aircraft also cannot see taxiway Bravo on the other side of the runway as the pavement is raised slightly; making the correct route not immediately obvious if they are not familiar with the airport.We had several aircraft taxiing in and out throughout our session. We had a number of what must have been low time pilots throughout this session taxiing out who had difficulty following my trainee's instructions. Partway through the session; we had a twin engine who was not making the turn when crossing runway 31. My trainee caught the pilot in time and ordered him to hold position until everything was sorted out. At the end of the session Aircraft X taxied out for a VFR departure to the north. My trainee issued his taxi instructions without stating the runway for departure as he had many times during this session. I planned to mark it down on the training report. The aircraft sounded very unsure of himself coming out of the ramp; almost babbling; questioning his taxi instructions. My trainee started giving him progressive and set him up to cross runway 31 at A6. The aircraft did not make the turn to bravo as instructed and plowed on to the active runway. My trainee keyed up with a raised voice and told him to stop; Aircraft X did not respond. I keyed up and told the aircraft to stop moving; telling him that he was on an active runway. At this point; the Aircraft stopped on the runway after making a slight right turn; so he was now clear of the taxiway and on the runway facing the approach end. I finally got him to turn around and unplugged my trainee as he seemed fatigued and this was the second time we had an issue with aircraft on or almost on the runway in this session. Once the aircraft got down to the approach end holding short for departure; he asked to depart (I believe); and I told him to hold short as I had a small business jet eight miles out cleared to land. I had to go back and forth with him over five times before I got him to say he was holding short with his tail number. It is also a known issue that aircraft holding short for departure on runway 02 can't always hear us clearly on the frequency; as they are a mile away from the tower and our tower is only a few stories off the ground. Once the jet landed and was told to taxi down the runway and turn off at the end; Aircraft X thought this transmission was for him and tried to read it back. Eventually he departed the airspace.This was the most difficult experience I have had with one particular aircraft. I haven't seen it this bad before; and it leaves me wondering if the pilot was a student who was signed off too early or was having some other issue. I could have possibly done more to prevent this outcome by correcting my trainee's use of the radio more comprehensively early on in the session. I thought he was doing a pretty good job of keeping his head up and looking out the window; but he was not running his radio efficiently. This was a significant problem for him on radar which we spent dozens of hours helping him work on. We talked about this in the debrief. He speaks in a mumble on frequency which bothers me as his trainer but rarely have I seen pilots ask for a repeat transmission. I tried to do the right thing as a trainer by stepping in before the session went too far (there was no traffic in the area when the pilot went on to the runway) but I could have done more to address the use of the frequency before it became an issue. I do feel that I have the respect of our facility's trainees; but I also think I have a reputation for being more nit-picky or detail oriented than other trainers; so I struggle to find the right balance between correcting things during the session versus waiting for the debrief.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site 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.