Local Tower Controller confuses callsigns of aircraft departing on intersecting runways. Wrong aircraft takes off and the other must be cleared off their runway from position and hold to allow traffic on final to land.
Synopsis
Local Tower Controller confuses callsigns of aircraft departing on intersecting runways. Wrong aircraft takes off and the other must be cleared off their runway from position and hold to allow traffic on final to land.
Narrative
We were monitoring Tower freq and we heard them clear Company # (not sure of the callsign) into position on runway xxc. The verbiage I recall is; 'Company #; taxi into position and hold Runway XXC; don't expect to stop; traffic is on a 3-mile final to Runway XXC.' Next; Tower cleared us into position and hold on Runway XYL. The verbiage I recall is; 'Company # (our callsign); taxi into position and hold Runway XYL; traffic landing and departing the crossing runway.' We had already completed the Before Takeoff checklist so we started to taxi into position as instructed. As I was about 45 degrees from runway heading; I thought I saw a Company jet takeoff from Runway XXC. Then I heard Tower say; 'Company # (our callsign); cleared for immediate takeoff; traffic is on a 2-mile final; turn to heading 250 degrees'. I did not catch the turn direction but I was expecting the 250 heading. The First Officer told me later that he thought the Tower said a left turn; so he read back; 'Company # (our callsign); cleared for takeoff Runway XYL; turn right to heading 250.' I pushed up the power and started the takeoff roll. Somewhere around 110 KTS I heard something on the radio from Tower to another airplane. It was then I realized that Company # was still on Runway XXC. I couldn't abort at that point; so we continued the takeoff. I did hear Tower say something to Company # and their response was; 'You used the other callsign.' Tower then directed Company # to turn right and exit the runway immediately. The First Officer and I talked about what just happened; so above 10'000 FT MSL; the First Officer called back to Clearance Delivery to ask if we had accepted a takeoff clearance for another aircraft. Clearance delivery called the Tower cab and told us that 'there was a transposition error in the callsigns.' The First Officer asked if we did anything wrong and CD said no; we were fine. Preventative Measures: ATC shouldn't clear two aircraft into position with traffic on short final to one of the runways as this adds undo 'pressure' on the Controller to keep the aircraft and callsigns straight and not cause a go-around or near-miss. Also including the runway in the takeoff clearance would have been a red flag.
Second reporter narrative
On the takeoff roll approaching the XXC intersection; we overheard Company XYZ declare that they were holding in position XXC and that ATC had used the wrong callsign. ATC instructed Company XYZ to exit the runway for landing traffic. I believe that ATC issued us a takeoff clearance that was meant for Company XYZ. I had assumed that the aircraft lifting off of XXC while we were lining up was XYZ; and that ATC had decided to depart us before the landing traffic. ATC used our callsign and; I believe; did not use a runway number in the takeoff clearance.
Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.