B777 FO BELIEVES SAFETY IS COMPROMISED BY THE USE OF TWO TOWER AND GROUND FREQUENCIES WITH THE NEW RWY AT SEA.
Synopsis
B777 FO BELIEVES SAFETY IS COMPROMISED BY THE USE OF TWO TOWER AND GROUND FREQUENCIES WITH THE NEW RWY AT SEA.
Narrative
THE NEW RWY AT SEATTLE TACOMA INTL ARPT; RWY 34L/16R; IS SCHEDULED TO OPEN. IN PREPARATION FOR THIS EVENT; THE FAA HAS PUBLISHED THE SEA-TAC RWY SAFETY BULLETIN. I BELIEVE THE COMS PLAN AS DESCRIBED IN THIS BULLETIN IS CRITICALLY FLAWED. AT A TIME OF HISTORIC NUMBERS OF RWY INCURSIONS; THE FAA PLAN PURPOSEFULLY DEPRIVES PLTS OF INFO THAT DIMINISHES SITUATIONAL AWARENESS AND THEREBY CONSTITUTES A CRITICAL SAFETY HAZARD. SPECIFICALLY; THE BULLETIN STATES: WHEN YOU ARE BTWN RWYS; YOU MAY BE ON A FREQ THAT IS DIFFERENT THAN THE FREQ BEING USED BY OTHER ARR OR DEP ACFT USING THOSE RWYS. FURTHERMORE; IT HIGHLIGHTS THE POTENTIAL SAFETY HAZARD; REQUESTING PLTS TO TAKE AN EXTRA MOMENT TO VISUALLY LOOK FOR TFC ON FINAL OR ON THE RWY PRIOR TO ANY XING. AS PROFESSIONAL AVIATORS; WE ARE TAUGHT TO USE ALL TOOLS AVAILABLE TO ENHANCE OUR SITUATIONAL AWARENESS. AS STATED IN THE PLAN; PLTS ARE TO BE DEPRIVED OF INFO REGARDING OTHER ACFT RECEIVING TAKING OFF OR LNDG CLRNCS ON THE ADJOINING RWY. MANY SAFETY RPTS SPEAK TO THE CRITICALITY OF THIS EXACT INFO IN AVERTING COLLISIONS OF CATASTROPHIC CONSEQUENCE. REMAINING ON TWR FREQ WHILE HOLDING SHORT AND DURING RWY XINGS WOULD PROVIDE THIS IMMEASURABLY IMPORTANT INFO AND MAY VERY WELL BE THE CRITICAL PIECE OF INFO TO BREAK THE CHAIN IN AN ACCIDENT SEQUENCE. THE BULLETIN ALSO RECOMMENDS: BRIEF THE LIKELY FREQ CHANGES AND TAXI RTES PRIOR TO LEAVING THE GATE OR PRIOR TO THE BEGINNING OF FINAL APCH WHEN ARRIVING. HAVING JUST ATTENDED SAFETY TRAINING THIS EXACT PRACTICE WAS ILLUSTRATED AS THE CAUSAL FACTOR IN A RWY INCURSION AT REAGAN NATL ARPT IN WASHINGTON; DC. THE NTSB HAS IDENTED EXPECTATION BIAS AS A STRONG CONTRIBUTING FACTOR IN RWY INCURSIONS; ACCIDENTS AND INCIDENTS. WHY WOULD PLTS WANT TO START OUR FLTS WITH AN ACCIDENT WAITING TO HAPPEN. BRIEFING RWY INCURSION HOT SPOTS AND RWY EXIT PLANS ENHANCES SAFETY; BUT BRIEFING A TAXI RTE THAT HASN'T BEEN ISSUED IS A SET UP FOR ERROR. IT IS MY HOPE THAT THE FAA WILL REVIEW AND REVISE THE PROPOSED COMS PLAN AND BRIEFING RECOMMENDATIONS FOR SEA-TAC TO ENHANCE; NOT DETER; SAFE OPS.
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Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.