AFTER CLRED INTO POS AND HOLD BY MEM LC; AC50 PLT OBSERVES A310 EXECUTE A GAR DIRECTLY OVER HIS ACFT.

Date: 2002-02 · Aircraft: Aero Commander 500 Series · Phase: taxi

Anomalies: atc-issue-all-types|conflict-ground-conflict|critical|deviation-discrepancy-procedural-published-material-policy

Synopsis

AFTER CLRED INTO POS AND HOLD BY MEM LC; AC50 PLT OBSERVES A310 EXECUTE A GAR DIRECTLY OVER HIS ACFT.

Narrative

I WAS CLRED TO TAXI TO RWY 18L AT KMEM. I PROCEEDED TO RWY 18L VIA TXWY Y. REACHING THE ILS HOLD LINE. I CALLED THE TWR ON 119.7 AND TOLD THEM I WAS READY FOR DEP. THE REPLY WAS 'ACFT NUMBER; TAXI INTO POS AND HOLD.' I REPLIED; 'POS AND HOLD ACFT NUMBER.' THE SURFACE VISIBILITY WAS APPROX 1 MILE IN LIGHT SNOW AND MIST FOR RWY 18L. APPROX 15 SECONDS AFTER TAXIING INTO POS AND HOLDING; A310 HEAVY FLEW OVERHEAD AT APPROX 150 FT THAT HAD GONE MISSED. AFTER THE INCIDENT; THE TWR KEPT ME IN POS; SWITCHED CTLRS; AND SOON CLRED ME FOR DEP. NO MENTION OF THE INCIDENT CAME FROM THE TWR; NOR WERE ANY REQUESTS MADE TO CALL THE TWR. THE TRUE CAUSE OF THE PROB WAS HIGH VOLUMES OF TFC; LIGHT SNOW; MIST; LOW VISIBILITY AND NIGHT. THE TWR WAS HANDLING A LARGE VOLUME OF IFR TFC WITH ONE CTLR HANDLING 3 RWYS; POSSIBLY 4. AND THE TWR IS APPROX 1 MILE FROM THE RWY SO THEIR VISIBILITY WAS LIMITED AS WELL. SOLUTION MIGHT BE TO SUBDIVIDE THE TWR RESPONSIBILITIES AND FREQUENCIES FOR ARRIVING AND DEPARTING TFC. ASSIGN A SEPARATE FREQ FOR 2 OF THE 3 RWYS ON HIGH VOLUME NIGHTS/DAYS. I HAVE APPROX 500 HRS OF TIME FLYING OUT OF MEMPHIS INTERNATIONAL AND NEVER HAD A PROBLEM WITH CTLRS NOR INCURSIONS. THE CONDITIONS THIS NIGHT WERE APPROPRIATE FOR THIS INCIDENT TO OCCUR. CALLBACK CONVERSATION WITH RPTR REVEALED THE FOLLOWING INFO: THE RPTR WAS ESTABLISHED IN POS ON RWY 18L FOR ONLY 15 TO 20 SECONDS WHEN HE HEARD THE ENGINES OF THE A310 SPOOL UP FOR THE GAR WHILE THEY SIMULTANEOUSLY ANNOUNCED THEY WERE EXECUTING A GAR DUE TO TFC ON THE RWY. IT WAS ONLY AT THAT TIME THAT THE RPTR WAS AWARE OF ANOTHER ACFT ON THE SAME FREQ. AFTER THE A310'S NOTIFICATION OF THE GAR; THE RPTR RECOGNIZED A CHANGE OF CTLR AS THE NEW CTLR ISSUED HIS TKOF CLRNC. NO OTHER COM WAS EXCHANGED WITH THE PLT

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