SPI ON SOLO XCOUNTRY FLT DEPARTS ACROSS THE RWY INSTEAD OF ITS LENGTH BARELY MISSING A PERSON; JET FIGHTERS; BUILDINGS AND WIRES.

1993-08 · NASA ASRS report 250050

Date: 1993-08 · Aircraft: Small Aircraft; High Wing; 1 Eng; Fixed Gear · Phase: takeoff

Anomalies: ground-incursion-runway|other-runway-or-taxiway-excursion

Synopsis

SPI ON SOLO XCOUNTRY FLT DEPARTS ACROSS THE RWY INSTEAD OF ITS LENGTH BARELY MISSING A PERSON; JET FIGHTERS; BUILDINGS AND WIRES.

Narrative

I RECEIVED STUDENT'S XCOUNTRY PLANNING FOR A XCOUNTRY ENL-HUF-SPI-ENL FOR LONG SOLO XCOUNTRY. I SPENT 1 HR AND WENT OVER EACH CHK POINT AND ENSURED SHE HAD 2 METHODS OF IDENTING EACH ONE. I CHKED WX -- NO FACTOR. I SIGNED HER LOGBOOK AND FAR 141 FOLDER AND BEGAN WORK WITH ANOTHER STUDENT. SHE ASKED TO SPEAK WITH ME PRIVATELY ABOUT A PERSONAL PROB. SHE ASKED IF SHE SHOULD GO ON HER XCOUNTRY. I TOLD HER THAT I FEEL VERY GOOD WHEN I FLY ALONE AND THAT MY CONFIDENCE IS HIGH IN THE AIR. I ASKED HER HOW SHE FELT. SHE SAID 'YES; I KNOW WHAT YOU MEAN; I FEEL THAT WAY TOO.' I TOLD HER TO HAVE A GOOD FLT. ON DEP FROM TERRE HAUTE; SHE BECAME CONFUSED ABOUT THE LOCATION OF THE DEP RWY 23. THERE WAS ALSO A LARGER AIRPLANE BEHIND HER DURING HER RUNUP. SHE FELT INTERNAL PRESSURE FROM 'DELAYING' THE LARGER ACFT BEHIND HER. SHE ASKED FOR TKOF AND WAS CLRED. SHE QUERIED THE CTLR ABOUT THE RWY SINCE SHE NOTICED HER ACFT HDG AND THE RWY HDG DID NOT MATCH. THE CTLR ASCERTAINED THAT SHE WAS ALONE AND SAID IN A VERY IRRITATED VOICE; 'YOU ARE AT THE RWY; CLRED FOR TKOF.' SHE WENT STRAIGHT AHEAD; ACROSS THE APCH END OF THE RWY; AND BARELY CLRED MIL JETS AND BUILDINGS. SHE SAID SHE KEPT ASKING IF SHE WAS AT THE RIGHT PLACE AND THE CTLR SOUNDED REALLY ANGRY; LIKE HE WANTED TO GET HER OUT OF THE WAY. SHE DECIDED TO GO AND FIGURED HE WOULD TELL HER TO STOP IF SHE WAS DOING THE WRONG THING. SHE ASKED ME 'HOW MANY TIMES WAS I SUPPOSED TO ASK FOR CLARIFICATION?' BEFORE SHE WENT; I TOLD HER THAT WHEN YOU SAY YOU ARE A STUDENT PLT; CTLRS WATCH YOU MORE CLOSELY AND ARE MORE CAREFUL. 'YOU ARE AT THE RWY' WAS MISUNDERSTOOD. SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION FROM ACN 250131: ON THE GND AT TERRE HAUTE AN FSS BRIEFER ADVISED ME TO CONSULT MY INSTRUCTOR REGARDING MARGINAL WX FOR THE CONTINUED FLT. I WAS TOLD BY MY INSTRUCTOR TO DISCONTINUE THE PLANNED FLT AND EXPEDITE MY DEP BACK TO BASE TO AVOID THE APCHING BAD WX. THE DELAY IN DEP CAUSED BY MY PREFLT CHK FURTHER INCREASED MY ANXIETY LEVEL. WHEN I CALLED FOR TAXI I HAD FORGOTTEN TO LISTEN TO THE ATIS. WHEN THE CTLR ASKED ME IF I HAD ATIS INFO I DIDN'T REALIZE WHAT HE WAS REFERRING TO AND WHEN HE HAD TO TELL ME; I FELT EMBARRASSED FOR HAVING ASKED A STUPID QUESTION. I INFORMED HIM THAT I WAS A STUDENT PLT ON A SOLO TRAINING FLT! TAXIING TO THE RWY; I WAS FURTHER STRESSED BY A FAIRLY BIG MULTI-ENG BEHIND ME. FURTHERMORE; IT WAS MY IMPRESSION THAT TWR'S XMISSION (REGARDING TFC IN THE AREA) WAS INTERRUPTED AND I ASKED FOR THE INFO TO BE REPEATED. AT THIS POINT I FELT THE TWR WAS GETTING IMPATIENT WITH ME WHICH ALSO ADDED UP ON MY UNEASINESS AND MY INABILITY TO CLRLY ASSESS THE SIT. BEFORE ENTERING THE RWY; I DECIDED TO CONFIRM WITH THE TWR THAT I WAS CLRED TO TAKE OFF. THE VERY IMPATIENT REPLY FROM THE TWR WAS; 'YOU ARE AT THE RWY AND CLRED TO TAKE OFF!' IN SPITE OF THE FACT THAT I INITIALLY KNEW THAT I WASN'T ON RWY 23 BUT ON THE TXWY; THE REPLY FROM THE TWR CONVINCED ME THAT I WAS IN ERROR; THAT THIS WAS THE RWY AND THAT I WAS EXPECTED TO INITIATE MY TKOF FROM THIS POS! DURING THE ENSUING TKOF; I BARELY MISSED A PERSON ON THE GND; SOME JET FIGHTERS; BUILDINGS AND WIRES!

Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.

Loading the flight search…

Frequently asked questions

How do I search flights by aircraft type on FlightFinder?

Pick an aircraft model — Boeing 737, Airbus A320, A380, Boeing 787 Dreamliner and more — enter your origin airport, and FlightFinder shows every route that plane flies from there with live fares.

Which aircraft types can I filter by?

We support Boeing 737/747/757/767/777/787, the full Airbus A220/A319/A320/A321/A330/A340/A350/A380 family, Embraer E170/E175/E190/E195, Bombardier CRJ and Dash 8, and the ATR 42/72 turboprops.

Is FlightFinder free to use?

Search and schedules are free. Pro ($4.99/month, $39/year, or $99 one-time lifetime) unlocks the enriched flight card — on-time stats, CO₂ per passenger, amenities, live gate & weather — plus My Trips with push alerts.

Where does the route data come from?

Live schedules come from Amadeus, AeroDataBox and Travelpayouts. Observed routes (which aircraft actually flew a given city pair) are crowdsourced from adsb.lol ADS-B data under the Open Database License.