Originally Posted by
westhawk
Now I know that more than a few non-US pilots have issues with our "implied" clearance to cross all runways as part of a normal clearance to taxi to the departure runway. Unless explicitly instructed to hold short of, or at, a point along your taxi route, you are cleared to cross all runways along your taxi route except the runway you were cleared to taxi to. So I cannot help but wonder if this could have, in some part, been a factor.
This is not totally accurate, though it's definitely true that a lot of non-US pilots would be rightly a little nervous about this particular clearance issue. You also hear a lot of US trained crews (particularly biz jets it seems) that will request crossing clearance when it's not strictly required. Sometimes this actually pisses off the ground controller, but of course it's always far better to ask than risk a violation or possible aircraft in the face.
Anyhow, the caveat to the above statement is that you may cross any INACTIVE runway along your taxi route without a specific crossing clearance, an inactive runway being a runway that is not mentioned in the ATIS as a departing or arriving runway. Seems obvious, but it's a very important distinction and one that can be misunderstood. I've been cleared to taxi to an active runway where my route would have crossed a seperate active runway without being given a hold short instruction. Though it's rare, such an occurance is fraught with potential if the crew does not have a complete understanding of this particular rule and decides to cross an active runway without clearance.