A Delta A319 did a last-second go-around to avoid an American Airlines Boeing 737-800 that was taking off on an intersecting runway at Boston Logan Airport late Saturday morning. ADS-B data shows the two planes within 300 feet laterally while the landing aircraft was only about 100 feet above the runway when the go-around began. Delta flight 2351 was cleared to land on Runway 33L and about a minute later, while the Delta flight was on short final, a tower controller cleared the American plane for takeoff. According to the re-enactment site You Can See ATC, the American crew delayed its takeoff roll by 20 to 30 seconds.
After the Delta crew hit the power, the controller seemed to forget that he had cleared the American flight for takeoff. “American 3161 where are you going?” the controller asked. “You cleared us for takeoff, 3161,” one of the American pilots said somewhat indignantly. The Delta flight did a short tour of north Boston and the American aircraft headed for Charlotte with no further drama. That will come in the next few days.
Haven’t been to Boston in years, but do the controllers no longer use the phrase “Cleared for takeoff, no delay, traffic on final for crossing runway”? I’m wondering why AA thought it was okay to sit on the runway for almost 30 seconds before beginning their departure.
Human controllers and pilots making human mistakes. Just a reality. Seems like way too many, by luck and by golly, nick of time saves lately.
What percentage of the human population has the mental aptitude and proclivity to be an Air Traffic Controller in today’s class B airspace? Single digit number? Long arduous initial training, extensive recurrency training, high stress environment . . .
The foibles of, high volume, life and death oral communication: Non-native English language folks, stepped on transmissions, VHF radio, misunderstandings . . . big long list . . .
Need an AI produced dot to follow on a moving map in each aircraft for each pilot to follow. ATC personal should be big picture oversight “Managers” not oral turn by turn, do this do that controllers.
@Old Bold Pilot agreed. Spend enough time in a cockpit, control tower or TRACON and you will make a mistake and see others do likewise. That the skies are not raining aluminum confetti is a testament to aviation’s heritage of exceptional professionalism, with zero tolerance for apathy, carelessness or indifference. But when airspace saturation requires heroic performance all-day, all-the-time, new solutions are needed.
To my simple brain, the use of crossing runways for concurrent use is a recipe for disaster, period. Parallel runways, okay – one landing and one departing. But doing the same on crossing asphalt is going to create frequent conflicts, especially when things get busy. I agree that some sort of AI system needs to be in place to monitor the moving dots and alert the controllers if it detects a developing conflict. I don’t ascribe to having the AI run primary with human backup, but having AI looking over the big picture works for me.
Then you should avoid Reagan National Airport. where all 3 runways meet in the middle, and crossing is a fact of life… (and yet the latest crash was an Army helicopter crossing final.. Who’d have guessed..
The “Big Sky Theory” has prevented many paint scraping events.
Yup. No telling how many times the “Big Sky Theory” has saved my bacon and was never aware of it.