Incident Overview
An incident occurred at night involving Eastern Airlines Flight 254, a Boeing 727 registered as N8107N, and PDQ Flight 271, a Piper PA-31. The sequence of events began after Eastern Flight 254 landed on Runway 22 and was slowing down.
Sequence of Events
The tower controller instructed the crew of Eastern Flight 254 to "turn right on Taxiway Bravo, if able, hold short of Runway 18 and remain this frequency." The crew of Flight 254 then asked, "Alright, is that the first lighted one here?" The controller replied, "Affirmative." She subsequently cleared PDQ Flight 271, which was in position and holding on Runway 18, for takeoff. As PDQ Flight 271 began its takeoff roll, the controller observed that Eastern Flight 254 was slowly crossing the same runway. The controller started to transmit to the Eastern flight, then canceled the takeoff clearance for PDQ Flight 271. PDQ Flight 271 passed behind Eastern Flight 254 as the latter cleared the runway.
Communication Issues
The crew of Eastern Flight 254 stated that they neither received nor acknowledged the instruction to hold short of Runway 18. When queried by the tower after the incident, a crewmember replied, "I'm sorry, we didn't hear you."