Incident Overview
On December 2, 2007, at approximately 7:21 pm Eastern Standard Time, a runway incursion occurred at Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport (BWI) involving two commercial aircraft. Comair flight 5412 (COM5412), a Bombardier Regional Jet (CRJ), was cleared for takeoff on runway 15R, while America West flight 83 (AWE83), an Airbus A320, had been cleared to land on runway 10.
Sequence of Events
The tower controller cleared AWE83 to land on runway 10, and the aircraft was approximately 6 miles on final approach when the local controller issued a takeoff clearance to COM5412 on runway 15R. COM5412 was on taxiway A, about 500 feet short of runway 15R, at the time the clearance was given. The Airport Movement Area Safety System (AMASS) alerted. COM5412 rotated at taxiway F and subsequently overflew AWE83 at the intersection of runways 10 and 15R. The initial report from the Federal Aviation Administration indicated that COM5412 cleared AWE83 by approximately 300 feet. AWE83 exited runway 10 at runway 22.
Weather Conditions
Night visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the incident. Weather reported at BWI included calm wind, visibility of 5 statute miles, light rain and mist, a broken ceiling at 1,000 feet, and an overcast ceiling at 3,000 feet.