B737-700
Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Flight Crew Last 90 Days 171
Confusion; Situational Awareness; Communication Breakdown
ATC Issue All Types
Air Traffic Control Issued New Clearance; Flight Crew Rejected Takeoff; General Flight Cancelled / Delayed
Human Factors
Cleared for takeoff. After power set; ATC stated '(our call sign); exit the runway and contact Ground.' Captain and I both thought it was an error in call sign for another company aircraft that just landed. ATC then again stated the above in a desperate tone. We saw another carrier approaching the runway and elected to reject. After we stopped ATC apologized for the confusion and messed up the call signs.
After clearing us for takeoff; during takeoff roll on Runway 15; BUR Tower transmitted '(our call sign) exit runway; left on Delta' twice. The first time he said it; we thought it was probably an error as another company aircraft had just landed on Runway 8 and cleared the intersection of the runways. The second time he said it we were at 96 knots and elected to reject the takeoff to be on the safe side. I made a PA telling the passengers and flight attendants to remain seated; and that our takeoff clearance had been cancelled. After stopping on the runway; the Tower Controller sounded confused that we had rejected the takeoff. He said he was trying to contact the other aircraft. We ran the QRH and checked brake cooling; which recommended 18 minutes cooling time. Our fuel status was ok to continue without returning to gate. Ground Control did apologize to us on the subsequent taxi out to the runway. The rest of the flight was uneventful.
B737 flight crew reports a confusing clearance from BUR Tower during takeoff from Runway 15. The Tower had gotten their callsign confused with an aircraft that had just landed and the second transmission to clear on Delta was made with urgency and the crew elected to reject.