Commercial Fixed Wing
Flight Crew Instrument; Flight Crew Multiengine; Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Communication Breakdown; Workload
ATC Issue All Types; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Clearance; Ground Incursion Taxiway
General None Reported / Taken
Procedure; Human Factors
First Officer's landing. After touchdown and roll out to the end; we were issued taxi instructions while still on the runway and during transfer of control from FO to Captain for taxi. I heard taxi Alpha to the gate which I read back. As we turned across the hard stand for gate X from Alpha the controller informed us we had been instructed to taxi Alpha Fox. [The cause was] Task saturation. Controllers should not issue taxi instructions until clear of runway. Busy airports should have a standard and understood initial taxi route so that you have time to clear the runway and listen to further instructions. Maybe they could be depicted on the approach plate or in the airport diagram or the controller could issue with landing clearance.
On the landing roll out while we were transferring controls we were issued a taxi clearance to gate X. The Captain still had the radios as we were decelerating through about 80 knots. He responded to the radio call and I can clearly remember him saying taxi to the gate via Alpha. There was no correction from ATC so we taxied to the gate. As we crossed the ramp area the Controller advised us the instructions were Alpha Echo Foxtrot. We apologize and proceeded to the gate with no further issues.The inability to hear the controllers instructions clearly at a busy time in the landing roll out combined with the lack of correction by ATC when our read back was incorrect. In the future I will restate the instructions from ATC once I have the radios on the ground after the roll out is complete. I will also plan not to respond the ATC during task saturation like this.
Air carrier flight crew reported a taxiway incursion occurred after ATC issued taxi instructions while the aircraft was still decelerating on the landing roll and the crew was unable to hear instructions clearly during that 'busy time.'