Posted on 11/17/2006 11:07:51 PM PST by bellevuesbest
An Atlas Air Boeing 747 and a United Airlines Boeing 737-300 involved in a runway incursion this summer at Chicago O’Hare came within 35ft (11m) of colliding, much closer than originally believed, the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has revealed.
In the aftermath of the July 23 incident, US authorities estimated the aircraft came within 200-300ft of each other, although this was understood to be the distance between the fuselages as the 737 passed above the 747, and not the measurement between the widebody’s tail and the 737’s undercarriage.
Now a three dimensional animated reconstruction of the runway incursion is being displayed on the NTSB’s web site based on information from the flight data recorder, air traffic communication, recorded radar data, and aircraft performance data.
The computer simulation shows how the United 737, operating as flight 1015, was cleared for takeoff on runway 27L just as the Atlas freighter was crossing the intersection with 27L, after landing on 14R. The 737 was able to take off, but overflew the larger aircraft, clearing the tail by only 35ft.
The information confirms the two aircraft came much closer to colliding than originally thought, says a NTSB spokesman.
NTSB officials believe controller error caused the incursion. The agency cites the serious near collision as a reason why the US FAA should implement a runway collision avoidance system that will ensure the safe movement of aircraft on the ground and provide direct warning capability to flight crews.
YIKES!
Ping
Man. The air traffic controllers were a little late. What do you want to bet the pilot had already spotted the plane and was taking evasive action?
It looks like the pilot of that Atlas 747 simply was not paying attention. How in the HECK do you roll over a hold-short line and onto an active runway like that?? I hope those Atlas fly-boys lost their jobs over that one. Only God Himself, intervening personally, prevented a disaster that day.
eep. That was close.
God, Boeing, and the talented pilot in the 737 that managed to get his aircraft to stagger aloft early enough to clear the wayward 747.
I really doubt that an Airbus in normal flight law would allow the pilot to rotate early like that.
Whoa. That was a little too tight
Eek. I don't want to think about this too much. This is our home airport - my husband typically flies out of here about once a month. We live 15 miles from O'Hare!
Holy Schnikeys!
First, the crew of the United 737 does not seem to have done anything wrong. He was cleared to take off and did. There isn't enough information available in this animation (and the rest of the factual matter doesn't seem to be on NTSB's website), so it can't be determined whether the failure is the controllers', or the Atlas 747 crew.
This doesn't really matter, though, this business of right and wrong. In the worst accident ever, a runway incursion, the pilots of a Pan Am 747 were relatively blameless, and the pilot in command of a KLM 747 acted recklessly -- to the detriment of all in the KLM plane and many in the PA bird.
Second, if the time hack on the CVR is nominal, this did not happen during daylight, as depicted, but at three o'clock in the morning. There are two interesting things to note about that. A) it's dark and hard to see stuff and make out that a moving light in the distance is a threat, and B) this is the absolute low point in the circadian rhythm of any person adapted to a normal day shift.
Other than that, all I can say is... wow.
By the way, here's the direct link to the NTSB animation.
http://www.ntsb.gov/Events/2006/MostWantedFed/AnimationDescription.htm
d.o.l.
Criminal Number 18F
That's one possibility, but I don't know what clearance he had been given, do you?
Several runway incursion fatals have resulted from errors by controllers. Here are some examples from a few years ago. The Sarasota accident was particularly disturbing to me.
d.o.l.
Criminal Number 18F
A friend and co-worker lost his father in that KLM collison. I remember when he got the call at work telling him his father died in that tragedy.
When the 747 first came out, the pundits were railing about the possibility of such a great number of fatalities should two 747's collide in mid air. Now we have a new twist with terrorism and the new Airbus 380. (If it ever gets built).
Imagine if a terrorist "sleeper" became an ATC. They wouldn't need a martyr or a bomb. One person making a "mistake" like this would be all it takes. Another timed attack using multiple sleepers could be the next 9/11...
Watching it was one of those "This can't be happening" things.
The airport is going to put in an AWOS with a radio repeater because of this.
They were also very lucky that the 747 was on 14R and not 14L. Though if he was on 14L they may have seen each other.
One good thing about 0300 was the 737 was probably near empty, allowing him to fly over the 747.
Several years ago, before I retired, we controllers were telling the departing/arriving aircraft they had traffic landing on a crossing runway and was holding short of their runway. I too would like to hear what instructions were given to Atlas.
Shortly after throttle-up for takeoff, our pilot slammed the thrust reversers on full and stood on the brakes. I looked out the window in time to see another a/c landing from our right -- timed just right for a T-bone at the intersection.
After our a/c had shuddered to a halt less than 100 yds from the crossover -- and we had scraped our foreheads off of the seatbacks in front of us, the captain came on the intercom:
"Folks, I apologize for Laguardia's dumb@$$ controllers. We are going to have to taxi back to the gate to check and see if we have flat-spotted our tires."
And then the First Officer chimed in:
"...and to change the Captain's trousers..."
OMG. That could have been a major tragedy. Thank God it turned out differently.
Scary stuff!
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