Background
On May 29, 2009, about 1017 Eastern Daylight Time, a runway incursion occurred at Charlotte/Douglas International Airport (CLT) in Charlotte, North Carolina. The incident involved PSA Airlines (JIA) flight 390, a Canadair Regional Jet CRJ-200 operating as a scheduled passenger flight under 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 121, and a Pilatus PC-12 (registration N409DR) operating under Part 91. JIA390 was en route from CLT to New Bern Craven County Airport (EWN), carrying a crew of 3 and 43 passengers. N409DR, with a crew of two and one passenger, was departing CLT for Asheville Regional Airport (AVL) on an instrument flight rules flight plan.
Incident Sequence
At 1011, ground control (GC) east directed JIA390 to taxi to runway 18L from spot 12. Three minutes later, JIA390 reached the approach end of the runway. At 1012:10, N409DR called GC east for taxi from the general aviation ramp, requesting to waive wake turbulence criteria. GC east directed N409DR to taxi to runway 18L, hold short of taxiway D, and expect an intersection departure at taxiway A. At 1013:26, GC east cleared N409DR to cross taxiway D and taxi to the intersection of taxiway A and runway 18L. Taxiway A intersected runway 18L approximately 2,500 feet from the approach end.
The Charlotte ATCT standard operating procedure required the GC to verbally notify the local control (LC) when an aircraft is taxied for a departure from an intersection, and to annotate the flight progress strip with the intersection identifier circled in red. These steps were completed correctly.
At 1015:11, LC east directed JIA390 to taxi into position and hold at the approach end of runway 18L, advising of traffic landing on intersecting runway 23. At 1016:40, LC east cleared JIA390 for takeoff after landing traffic passed; JIA390 acknowledged and began takeoff roll. Three seconds later, at 1016:47, LC east directed N409DR to taxi into position and hold on runway 18L. The pilot acknowledged. N409DR had been holding short of runway 18L on the east side at taxiway A and had not indicated readiness for departure. The LC east controller later stated in an interview that he did not visually correlate N409DR as the next departure, did not scan the flight progress strip annotated for an intersection departure, did not recall looking for N409DR on the airport surface detection equipment (ASDE) display, and did not scan the runway to ensure it was clear.
As N409DR entered the runway, the ASDE system activated with an aural alert: "Warning, Runway 18L occupied." Tower controllers began scanning runways before the alarm identified the specific runway.
At 1017:10, LC east canceled JIA390's takeoff clearance, transmitting "uhm cancel takeoff clearance uhm bluestreak." At 1017:22, JIA390 transmitted that they were "rejecting 18L." LC east directed JIA390 to hold position. N409DR advised they were exiting runway 18L at taxiway D6. JIA390 exited at taxiway C9. N409DR queried JIA390 on frequency about any contact, but JIA390 did not respond.
Aftermath
According to JIA390's pilots, during takeoff roll they saw N409DR approaching from the left. As the aircraft accelerated to about 85 knots, N409DR did not appear to slow down to hold short. When it became apparent N409DR would not stop, the pilot initiated a rejected takeoff. N409DR entered runway 18L from taxiway A. The first officer made rejected takeoff callouts, and braking began. JIA390 came to a stop on the runway centerline approximately 2–3 feet from N409DR. The pilots stated that N409DR stayed to the left of the centerline, preventing a collision. After stopping, the pilot set the parking brake and made a public announcement for passengers to remain seated. N409DR exited at taxiway D6, and JIA390 exited at taxiway C9. After exiting, JIA390 stopped again to complete the rejected takeoff checklist and communicated with the flight attendant, passengers, ATC, maintenance, and dispatch. After brake cooling, the flight taxied to the approach end of runway 18L and continued to EWN without further incident.
At the time, CLT was in a south flow configuration with departures on runways 18L and 18C and arrivals on 18C and 23. Tower staffing included seven controllers: a front line manager (on position), east and west LC controllers (with a developmental trainee on west LC), east and west GC controllers, a cab coordinator, and a flight data/clearance delivery controller.