Scary Runway Incursion

[Bank Angle]

I don't know if these have been posted before, but it doesn't hurt to be reminded to be careful again. Kudos to the USAir 2998 pilots for possibly saving the day! I hope both the controller and the United pilots' qualifications were re-evaluated. I don't know the whole story, but wouldn't be surprised if it involved a 14 hour duty day. And why we don't have ground radar at more airports, I don't know.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5BvgSS6kBdU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cofPH1y9vuw

[Doc]

Bloody woman drivers....kidding aside, somebody NEEDS to be unemployed! If you don't know where you are, are you not bright enough to STAY OFF ALL RUNWAYS TILL YOU FIGURE IT OUT???

[shankdown]

The smartest guy on there was the guy who just wanted to stay off the runways until the problem was sorted out... even after being cleared for takeoff on that same runway, and advised, rather shortly, that the runway was clear. Good for him... he saved some lives.

[rd1331]

Awesome job by the aircraft that was cleared for t/o and decided to wait.

Another runway incursion situation which alot of people do without noticing and could cause problems is this. When you call down and clear make sure you are down and clear. There was an incident once where and aircraft was just about to clear and called down and clear, the aircraft well making the corner got one of its wheels stuck and it sunk in. The prop contacted the ground and started to rip apart. Then the captain called for the evacuation and before he could get on the radio and say they where evacuating the f/o turned the master off. Neither one had noticed this had happened. So now you have an aircraft that is half way on the runway, evacuating, and has called down and clear. An aircraft was on approach and behind them, landed and nearly hit the aircraft and its passengers which where on the runway. It was a crappy foggy day.

Just make sure you are actually down and clear when u call it.

[app flap]

good example of why you should have a look at the airport diagram on your approach plate when you fly into somwhere unfamiliar, you'd think they'd have that one figured out by the time they were flying big jets around.

[2milefinal]

[CAL]

The issue of ground controllers in the US especially is what needs to be addressed....even at major international airports they assume you know exactly where everything is and scream down the radio at you if you take to long or ask for clarification....some of these airport diagrams are more complex than electrical diagrams the controllers just need to chill the @#$! out give us a sec to make sure we get it right so this shit doesnt happen....thank god it ended without incident.

[AV8OR]

I was surprised that the FedEx aircraft actually missed the United aircraft!

[black hole]

I can't see why they don't have imbedded red lighting instead of double yellow lines that are sometimes hard to see anyway, and have the tower able to turn them on and off. Anyone running a red line should be shot for stupidity.

[the_professor]

The issue of ground controllers in the US especially is what needs to be addressed....even at major international airports they assume you know exactly where everything is and scream down the radio at you if you take to long or ask for clarification....some of these airport diagrams are more complex than electrical diagrams the controllers just need to chill the @$#! out give us a sec to make sure we get it right so this @#$! doesnt happen....thank god it ended without incident.

A controller should never dismiss a pilot's confusion/clarification as it appears happened in this case. ("They're nowhere near the runway, but hold short if you want", or words to that effect. Thank god the pilot stood his ground.)

But don't forget that at the busy airports they (ground/tower controllers) are under a lot of pressure to keep aircraft moving. There is a non-stop stream of arrivals headed their way (and/or departures lining up waiting to go), and they can't afford to have the taxiways clogged up with aircraft who are meandering their way around.

[cywg_sw4]

Kinda interesting how you can actually hear the Fedex jet take off from UAL1448's transmission - you can hear the engine noise in the background.

That's damn close.

[avfun]

This particular tape was actually part of our VFR refresher a few years ago. Even with my minimal experience, I couldn't believe how the controller reacted. The pilot says we're lost and on an active runway and she completely disregards it.

Very well done by the third aircraft to hold, you know that's not a decision a lot of pilots would make with all the pressures of saving fuel and time.

[Tubthumper]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cw3hLQVE ... re=related

[Canoehead]

While the controller was way wrong in how she conducted herself, the UA crew was also leading her down the primrose path. Captain was wrong to try and explain where he was because he was lost. He knew he was near Kilo, but kept throwing the wrong runway number in there. Ground only heard the runway number, dismissed the taxiway as being "impossible", and so neither one knew where they were. If the skipper had his chart in front of him right from the beginning, this likely wouldn't have happened.

Obviously the tower's decision to continue launching was dumb, and lucky for her, a smart USAir crew was at her airport that day. Another reason to be aleart to what is going on around you... the USAir guys could have been discussing the finer points of their stay in Providence and missed what was unfolding ahead of them. Sterile cockpit anyone???

FWIW, the NTSB has several of these animated videos on their website. Highly recommended...

[KAG]

Great work on the UA crew to decline takeoff clearence and wait till the tower got shit sorted out.
Also it's easy to knock pilots for getting lost on a taxiway, but I can assure you if your flying into different airports on a regular basis, it will happen to you at some point. I myself have gotten confused for a minute where we were a couple of times, and have stopped one captain from taxing onto an active runway in KATL. You have a monentary lapse, make one wrong turn, you expect to see something, and you will.