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Close call at Austin Airport when a FedEx 767 attempted to land while a Southwest 737 was taking off
The Federal Aviation Administration and the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board are investigating an aborted landing in Austin, Texas, on Saturday morning by a FedEx cargo plane that had been set to land on a runway on which a Southwest Airlines jet was also cleared to depart from, the agencies said. (airlive.net) More...
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ATC clearing an aircraft for takeoff when another plane is on a Category 3 approach on the same runway on 3 mile final and anticipating/hoping the SWA aircraft doesn't delay takeoff is asking for trouble. The Fedex pilot even asked ATC if they were still cleared to land after hearing ATC clear SWA for takeoff. Fedex making the go around call saved a lot of lives. Vertical separation was estimated at something around 125 feet. NTSB is going to have a field day with ATC. The Blancolirio channel on YouTube does an excellent job explaining the situation.
Worst article title ever. If you listen to the audio, it's seems most likely that the controller placed the departing and arriving planes to closely between operations. It also seems like the southwest pilot may not have given the necessary consideration to the landing plane regardless of the controllers clearance. The FedEx plane did indicate 3 miles final in his radio calls, and in pour weather, that may have been enough for the SWA pilot to delay. There also appears to be evidence that the SWA pilot was slow to roll once on the runway. What does seem apparent, the FedEx pilot was not at fault, based on timing and radio communication, which is the opposite of the articles title.
Don't call this the "worst article title ever." It only encourages them to aim lower.
After hearing the real time audio, I think the controller AND the SWA should share the blame. The SWA pilot knew the Heavy FedEx was on 3 mile final. THREE MILE FINAL.
Let's see. B767 landing speed is 135 knots or 155 miles per hour.
Time to cover 3 miles is 70 seconds.
As a pilot of any aircraft, would you pull onto the runway, even if you had a clearance??
By the time the SWA reported his readiness for takeoff, the controller to respond and clear him onto the runway, the pilot to acknowledge the takeoff clearance took probably 15 of those 70 seconds.
The tower should have never given the SWA the clearance, the SWA should have rejected it.
Let's see. B767 landing speed is 135 knots or 155 miles per hour.
Time to cover 3 miles is 70 seconds.
As a pilot of any aircraft, would you pull onto the runway, even if you had a clearance??
By the time the SWA reported his readiness for takeoff, the controller to respond and clear him onto the runway, the pilot to acknowledge the takeoff clearance took probably 15 of those 70 seconds.
The tower should have never given the SWA the clearance, the SWA should have rejected it.
Blaming SWA is a stretch. If the SWA pilot had a clear understanding of picture, as all of the Monday morning quarterbacks have, then yes, he should have questioned the clearance to "Take Off". To me, it was clearly a screwup by the controller. Of course, I haven't listened to the audio tapes, but I will! So maybe I should have waited to post this comment.
I agree with your assessment and would like to add one more thing. With low visibility procedures at an airport, it was reckless for the controller to allow the departing aircraft onto the active runway while conducting a CATIIIB approach, regardless of separation. (Even in better circumstances the departing aircraft could have jeopardized the integrity of the ILS signal.) That controller should be violated for a whole slew of errors. And yes, the captain of the departing aircraft should have recognized the stupidity and illegality of the whole situation.
