No one was harmed but if these big mistakes by the biz jet crew had been a few seconds later with the 737 on the runway roll it would have been catastrophic.
We all make mistakes and learn from them but there are levels of mistakes and these were high level ones.
Not only crossing an active runway, without clearance, but also not LOOKING for and seeing the landing traffic ON SHORT FINAL. That’s two high level errors that could been fatal for lots of innocent people.
Takeaways?
- Heads UP when taxing, especially when crossing runways, the checklist can wait.
- Have the airport diagram up and know where you are on the airport.
- If not absolutely sure of ATC instructions ask for clarification and verification.
- When crossing taxiway intersections and ESPECIALLY runways, Clear left and right with callout.
This was not a case of high crew workload or task saturation and should never had happened.