A B737-700 captain reported becoming disoriented while taxiing at an unfamiliar CTAF airport at nigh...

Narrative:

During taxi out at night; after considerable delay due to cleaners and catering arriving late to the aircraft; I was unfamiliar with the airport and began to turn the wrong direction down taxiway F which was closed several hundred feet northeast of the terminal. Continuing would have put the aircraft into a position where both turning around and continuing would be impossible. I stopped; reversed direction of the turn; and had to utilize some reverse thrust to keep the aircraft on the center of the taxiway while correcting our course. We then continued without further incident. Flight crew under pressure due to having inadequate time in our schedule for proper preparation--aircraft due out at 2100; inbound arrived at 2040 and had to be cleaned; catered; fueled; and full crew change. Unfamiliar airport; night operations; uncontrolled field required obtaining clearance from dfw center while making position reports and monitoring CTAF; extremely high-workload period; vague information about taxiway closure; poor markings of closure. Better preparation; allowing more time to properly prepare.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A B737-700 Captain reported becoming disoriented while taxiing at an unfamiliar CTAF airport at night and entering an incorrect taxiway. Reverse thrust was used to remain on track while correcting the taxiway deviation.

Narrative: During taxi out at night; after considerable delay due to cleaners and catering arriving late to the aircraft; I was unfamiliar with the airport and began to turn the wrong direction down taxiway F which was closed several hundred feet northeast of the terminal. Continuing would have put the aircraft into a position where both turning around and continuing would be impossible. I stopped; reversed direction of the turn; and had to utilize some reverse thrust to keep the aircraft on the center of the taxiway while correcting our course. We then continued without further incident. Flight crew under pressure due to having inadequate time in our schedule for proper preparation--aircraft due out at 2100; inbound arrived at 2040 and had to be cleaned; catered; fueled; and full crew change. Unfamiliar airport; night operations; uncontrolled field required obtaining clearance from DFW center while making position reports and monitoring CTAF; extremely high-workload period; vague information about taxiway closure; poor markings of closure. Better preparation; allowing more time to properly prepare.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 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.

Attributes
ACN	862206
Time
Date	200911
Local Time Of Day	0001-0600
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.Airport
State Reference	US
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Night
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	B737-700
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Taxi
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Function	Captain
Person 2
Function	First Officer
Events
Anomaly	Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy Ground Incursion Taxiway

A B737-700 captain reported becoming disoriented while taxiing at an unfamiliar CTAF airport at night and entering an incorrect taxiway. Reverse thrust was used to remain on track while correcting the taxiway deviation.