Confusion; Situational Awareness
Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy; Ground Event / Encounter Other / Unknown
Flight Crew Became Reoriented
Airport; Human Factors; Procedure
During the preflight paperwork review; the following NOTAM was noted on the release paperwork: DIK 06/001 DIK TWY A BTN RWY 7/25 AND RWY 14/32 CLSD [with dates and times]. Translated as: Dickinson ND Taxiway Alpha between Runway 7/25 and 14/32 are closed from June X; 2014 at XA44 Zulu to June Y; 2014 at XE59 Zulu. Therefore; for our arrival time; our paperwork indicated that Taxiway A would be open. On arrival into DIK; Minneapolis Center advised that 'The two NOTAM's we have for you are Runway 14 REIL's out of service; and the airport beacon is out of service.' Our release paperwork and no advisory from Center regarding other pertinent NOTAM's; indicated to us that there would be nothing impeding our ground operations in DIK. We briefed that the planned exit point would be at the end of the runway; via a left turn onto Taxiway Alpha; and that we could not utilize Runway 7/25 for any movements as the RJ exceeds the weight limitations listed on the Airport Diagram notes. Runway 14/32 is 100' wide; and taxiways at DIK are very narrow; and all turns at this airport require over steering to ensure that you do not drag the main gear off the taxiways. As I started to carefully turn left onto Taxiway A; the First Officer quickly stated that a few low barricades were still present on Taxiway A. I immediately stopped the turn; assessed my position relative to the edges of the runway and taxiway; and decided we were stuck because I could not continue a left turn (to spin the airplane and back taxi) without risking taxiing the nose gear or potentially the right main into the grass. I immediately set the parking brake; and the First Officer contacted DIK Operations while I called on the CTAF to see if there were Dickinson Airport Operation' staff monitoring the frequency. The Airport Ops Supervisor responded; and he coordinated with Operations to bring out a tug/towbar to reposition the aircraft. I then contacted Minneapolis Center; cancelled IFR; advised them we were still blocking Runway 14 for the time being; and asked them to again review their NOTAMs for DIK. The Controller advised (I am paraphrasing) that 'our NOTAMs drop out of the system when they expire; so we didn't have anything about Taxiway A still being closed when you started your approach.' The DIK Ramp agents repositioned our aircraft; and I then taxied the airplane to the terminal via the other taxiways. At no point was the aircraft off a normal paved surface; and we utilized normal pushback procedures. When we got to the terminal ramp; I spoke with Mr. X from Airport Operations. I showed him our paperwork; and he stated (I am paraphrasing) 'That was the old NOTAM. We cancelled and reissued the NOTAM this afternoon with a different time and date on it.' He also showed me the 'new' NOTAM; which stated: DIK 06/005 DIK TWY A BTN APCH END RWY 25 AND APCH END RWY 32 CLSD BARRICADED [with dates and times]. This is obviously a completely different NOTAM that neither Dispatch nor Minneapolis Center had access to. If it was put into the NOTAM system; the three methods we have to catch these threats to our operations (Dispatch review; Pilot Review; and Controller review of NOTAMS) all should have caught this error. The obvious resolution to this would have been for me to taxi the airplane to permit a 180 degree turn on the runway. In my defense; I maintained the centerline to the very end in planned anticipation of over steering for a 90 degree turnoff to an OPEN taxiway. Taxiing the RJ on a 100 FT wide runway in preparation for a PLANNED 180 degree turn requires planned deviation off the runway centerline and strict awareness on where your outboard main gear is relative to the pavement edge. I simply could not guarantee that we could stay on the taxiway or runway surface at all times if I tried to turn out under our own power; so it is far safer to just stop and ask for assistance. No operational or customer service issues arose from this; other than a delay.
Regional jet Captain lands on Runway 14 at DIK planning on using Taxiway A for taxi. Taxiway A is closed and a U turn is not advisable. A NOTAM closing Taxiway A had expired but a new one was issued; which the crew did not have access to.