Taxi instructions and runway crossing phraseology
Runway 272. How they get there:
taxi via B, B13. Where they stop:
hold short of runway 04 — and a runway is
never crossed without its own explicit cross runway 04 clearance.
Ground control is where the real risk lives: more accidents happen on the surface than in the air, and almost every runway incursion starts with a taxi instruction that was vague, unread, or misheard. Since 2010 the FAA has made the format strict — and it's exactly the format you're graded on here.
The basic taxi instruction
Three things, always in this shape:
- The runway assignment first. “Runway 27, taxi via…” — not “taxi to runway 27”. The old “taxi to” phrasing was retired precisely because pilots heard it as permission to cross everything on the way.
- The route. Name the taxiways in the order flown (“via Bravo, Bravo 1”). No route on a field with choices is a graded omission — the pilot will happily invent one.
- The limit. “Hold short of runway 27” is implied at the assigned runway's hold line, but any other runway on the way must be an explicit hold short — which the pilot must read back verbatim, with their callsign. A “roger” is not a hold-short readback, and you're expected to chase it.
Runway crossings: one clearance per runway
Since 2010, every runway crossing requires its own explicit clearance — “cross runway 4 at Charlie”. No more “taxi to the ramp” gliding across two runways. And a controller may only issue one crossing at a time: cleared across 13R does not mean cleared across 31L further down (the only exception: parallel runway centerlines less than 1,000 ft apart).
…AIRCRAFT REACHES THE HOLD LINE, RUNWAY CHECKED CLEAR… “SkyWest fifty-five, cross runway one three right, continue via Delta.”
That two-step rhythm — hold short, then cross when it's actually safe — is the entire discipline. In our KSAT east-flow scenario every single departure taxi crosses 13R/31L, and the sim detects the crossing geometrically on the real taxi route: clear an aircraft across an occupied runway and it's a severe, on your debrief.
What the pilot must read back
| You said | Mandatory readback | “Roger” acceptable? |
|---|---|---|
| Runway assignment + route | Runway + route | No |
| Hold short of runway 04 | Verbatim, with callsign | Never |
| Cross runway 04 | “Cross runway 04” | No |
| Hold position | “Holding position” | No |
Amended taxi instructions
- Wrong turn. Pilots take the wrong taxiway without announcing it (ours do too, on purpose). Catch it on the ground radar and re-issue: “SkyWest 55, turn left at Bravo 4, rejoin Bravo.” Catch it late and it's a debrief line.
- Runway change mid-taxi. Wind swings, the configuration flips: “runway change, runway 9, taxi via Bravo” — and if their departure procedure no longer serves the new runway, expect a call for an amended clearance (the CRAFT guide covers what you'll re-issue).
- “Hold position” vs “hold short”. “Hold position” = stop now, wherever you are. “Hold short of X” = continue, stop at the line. Mixing them up moves aluminium you didn't want moved.
Common mistakes
- No runway in the taxi instruction — the single biggest point loss on ground phraseology.
- No route (“taxi runway 27” alone) on a field with parallel taxiways.
- Clearing a crossing while the runway is occupied — severe, always.
- Letting a hold-short go unacknowledged — the readback is the safety net, not a courtesy.
Related guides: the CRAFT clearance line by line · how to write an ATIS · climb via SID or maintain?
Practise Ground at KSAN
ProjectATC routes every aircraft on the actual taxiway network (OpenStreetMap data), detects your runway crossings geometrically, springs deliberate wrong turns — and grades every instruction you transmit.
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