What happened
On the night of the accident, a military flight designated Dixie 0sing requested and received clearance from Birmingham approach for a low approach followed by a full-stop landing on runway 05. At approximately 20:53, the crew of Dixie 06 reported being four miles from the runway on final approach. Simultaneously, the aircraft N19T was positioned on runway 05, awaiting takeoff instructions.
At 20:54:19, the local controller instructed the pilot of N19T to taxi to a specific position and hold. Shortly thereafter, a collision occurred between the two aircraft on the runway. The military aircraft involved was a USAF Douglas RF-4C Phantom II, registration 64-1032, which carried two crew members; both pilots escaped the incident without injury. However, the pilot of N19T, who was the only person on board, sustained one fatality.
Findings
The investigation determined that the local controller failed to maintain proper oversight of N19T due to being preoccupied with other traffic operating on runway 36. The controller noted that the volume of traffic was higher than typical for night operations. At the time of the event, the tower was operated by two controllers and one assistant, but the absence of a supervisor or coordinator meant there was no oversight to identify controller workload overload.
Key contributing factors included the failure of air traffic control personnel to visually identify all aircraft, a lack of maintained visual separation, and the issuance of improper clearances. The investigation also cited inadequate supervision within the tower cab as a factor in the inability to detect the controller's diverted attention.