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767 captain reported runway edge signage at egll airport is not ICAO standard. During daylight hours taxiways are difficult to identify.
| Attributes | |
| ACN | 1617241 |
| Time | |
| Date | 201902 |
| Local Time Of Day | 0601-1200 |
| Place | |
| Locale Reference | EGLL.Airport |
| State Reference | FO |
| Environment | |
| Flight Conditions | VMC |
| Aircraft 1 | |
| Make Model Name | Widebody Low Wing 2 Turbojet Eng |
| Operating Under FAR Part | Part 121 |
| Flight Phase | Landing Taxi |
| Flight Plan | IFR |
| Person 1 | |
| Function | Captain Pilot Flying |
| Qualification | Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP) |
| Experience | Flight Crew Last 90 Days 226 Flight Crew Total 9155 Flight Crew Type 6371 |
| Events | |
| Anomaly | Ground Event / Encounter Other / Unknown |
Narrative:
Heathrow's runways are not equipped with ICAO-standard runway turnoff (exit) signage. At night or low-vis; we follow the greens - simple! But in daytime there is no signage to tell you that the next turnoff is N9E or N10W; etc. There is terrific signage for taxiing hold points; but no runway edge signage leading you to a specific turnoff. Today's issue was that tower asked us to plan and make N9E due traffic behind us. Great; no problem! But which one is N9E? My taxi chart does not come up until 80 knots; and do I really want to be looking at my ipad as I'm taking control of the aircraft from the first officer? If heathrow had ICAO or us-standard runway turnoff signage; the turnoffs would be much easier to identify as we were 100's of yards away slowing the aircraft. Complicating the issue today is that taxiway H (extension of N9E beyond a taxiway) was closed and barricaded. As we are decelerating looking for N9E; all I could see off my left ahead were barricades; lo and behold they were leaving the exit to a open; and closing H and B taxiways; but from 400 yards away at 100 knots; I thought the approaching turnoff (N9E) was closed. As the largest us operator in heathrow; perhaps we can have some influence in getting this low-tech solution applied.
Original NASA ASRS Text
Title: 767 Captain reported runway edge signage at EGLL airport is not ICAO standard. During daylight hours taxiways are difficult to identify.
Narrative: Heathrow's runways are not equipped with ICAO-standard runway turnoff (exit) signage. At night or low-vis; we follow the greens - simple! But in daytime there is no signage to tell you that the next turnoff is N9E or N10W; etc. There is terrific signage for taxiing hold points; but no runway edge signage leading you to a specific turnoff. Today's issue was that Tower asked us to plan and make N9E due traffic behind us. Great; no problem! But which one is N9E? My taxi chart does not come up until 80 knots; and do I really want to be looking at my iPad as I'm taking control of the aircraft from the First Officer? If Heathrow had ICAO or US-standard runway turnoff signage; the turnoffs would be much easier to identify as we were 100's of yards away slowing the aircraft. Complicating the issue today is that taxiway H (extension of N9E beyond A taxiway) was closed and barricaded. As we are decelerating looking for N9E; all I could see off my left ahead were barricades; lo and behold they were leaving the exit to A open; and closing H and B taxiways; but from 400 yards away at 100 knots; I thought the approaching turnoff (N9E) was closed. As the largest US operator in Heathrow; perhaps we can have some influence in getting this low-tech solution applied.
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.