Midnight Collision at Birmingham: Military Jet and Private Plane Involved (N19T)

Incident Overview and Timeline On the night of the incident, a military flight identified as Dixie 06 contacted Birmingham approach control at 2045. The crew received clearance for a low approach followed by a full-stop landing on runway 05. At 2053, Dixie 06 reported being on a 4-mile final approach to the local controller. Shortly after, at 2054:19, the local controller issued a clearance to ABX74, registration N19T, instructing it to taxi to a position and hold on runway 5. ABX74 was awaiting takeoff instructions on runway 05 when the collision occurred. The sole pilot aboard ABX74 was killed in the accident. The military aircraft involved was a USAF Douglas RF-4C Phantom II, registration 64-1032, with two pilots on board who escaped uninjured. ## Contributing Factors The investigation revealed that the local controller had forgotten about ABX74. The controller became preoccupied with other traffic using runway 36, which was described as busier than normal for a night operation. At the time of the accident, the tower was staffed with two air traffic controllers and an air traffic assistant. No supervisor or coordinator was available in the cab to detect controller overload and offer assistance. ## Official Findings The official probable cause identified multiple factors related to air traffic control personnel. These included the failure to visually identify aircraft, diverted attention, failure to maintain visual separation, mental performance overload, and an improper ATC clearance. Additionally, inadequate supervision was cited as a contributing factor. A fire occurred as a secondary event following the collision.