B737-300 FLT CREW CITES A CLOSE CALL ON LNDG WITH A CITATION AT SAT.
Synopsis
B737-300 FLT CREW CITES A CLOSE CALL ON LNDG WITH A CITATION AT SAT.
Narrative
ON SHORT FINAL TO SAT RWY 12R; WE HEARD TWR ASK PRECEDING CITATION JET TO EXPEDITE OFF THE RWY. CITATION WASN'T EXACTLY HURRYING. I STARTED THINKING 'GO AROUND.' WHEN WE WERE APPROX 50 FT AGL; CITATION CLRED RWY 12R TO THE L AT TXWY D. WHEN WE WERE JUST ABOUT TO TOUCH DOWN; I NOTICED THE CITATION MAKING A U-TURN; XING THE RWY; AND EXITING TO THE R. WITH NO CHANCE TO GO AROUND; I IMMEDIATELY APPLIED MAX BRAKING UPON TOUCHING DOWN. IT WAS VERY APPARENT THAT WE WERE IN NO DANGER OF HITTING THE CITATION; EVEN IF HE WERE STILL ON THE RWY. THE CITATION FINALLY CLRED TO THE R. I ASKED TWR WHAT WAS GOING ON; AND HE REPLIED THAT THE CITATION WAS ON GND CTL. AFTER WE CONTACTED GND; I ASKED THE CTLR IF SHE HAD CLRED THE CITATION TO 'DO WHAT HE HAD DONE.' SHE REPLIED; EMPHATICALLY; 'NO. I ASKED HIM TO EXIT TO THE R.' I TOLD HER THAT THAT WAS INCREDIBLY CLOSE; 'TOO CLOSE;' AND SHE AGREED. WE WERE CLRED TO LAND MANY MI FROM THE RWY. IT WAS OBVIOUS THAT THE CITATION (OF FOREIGN REGISTRATION) WAS CONFUSED AT EITHER THE ARPT LAYOUT; THE CTLR INSTRUCTIONS; OR BOTH. THE ONLY ATC WARNING THAT ALERTED US TO ANYTHING (BEFORE I ASKED TWR) WAS TWR ASKING THE CITATION TO 'EXPEDITE.' I APPRECIATE THE EXPEDITIOUS HANDLING THAT MANY ATC FACILITIES PROVIDE US. HOUSTON; BALTIMORE; AND NOW; ST LOUIS; DO A REMARKABLE JOB OF MOVING ACFT WITH MINIMAL SEPARATION. I DO BELIEVE; HOWEVER; THAT MORE VIGILANCE SHOULD BE GIVEN WITH ACFT WHO ARE MINIMALLY SEPARATED. GIVEN THAT I WAS ABOUT TO MAKE A GAR UNTIL THE CITATION DID INDEED EXIT THE RWY; I HAD NO IDEA THAT HE WOULD TURN AROUND AND TAXI ACROSS THE ACTIVE; ESPECIALLY KNOWING THAT WE WERE ON SHORT FINAL. WHEN I ASKED GND ABOUT THE EVENT; SHE SOUNDED PERTURBED; BUT NOT TOO CONCERNED. I FEEL OTHERWISE. HAD THE RWY BEEN WET; OR HAD WE BEEN HEAVIER; OR HAD THE CITATION WAITED A FEW SECONDS MORE BEFORE MAKING HIS U-TURN MANEUVER; THINGS MAY HAVE BEEN A LOT DIFFERENT.
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Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.