LESS THAN STANDARD SEPARATION BETWEEN 2 MIL TANKER ACFT. OPERATIONAL ERROR.

Date: 1988-11 · Aircraft: Amateur/Home Built/Experimental

Anomalies: atc-issue-all-types|conflict-airborne-conflict

Synopsis

LESS THAN STANDARD SEPARATION BETWEEN 2 MIL TANKER ACFT. OPERATIONAL ERROR.

Narrative

I WAS WORKING A RADAR CTLR POS. I HAD 4 FGT IN MY RADAR PATTERN; AND IN ADDITION I WAS WORKING INBND TANKER Y APPROX 20 FLYING MILES FROM THE ARPT WHEN EIL TWR CALLED FOR A RELEASE ON X (OPP DIRECTION DEP). I ISSUED THROUGH MY HDOF CTLR 'TURN RIGHT HDG 270 WITHIN 3 MI RELEASED.' THE 4 FGT WERE IN 2 SEPARATE FLTS OF 2. FLT #1 REQUESTED FLT SPLIT UP AND THIS WAS GIVEN W OF EIL AFB ON A WIDE DOWNWIND. AFTER RELEASING TANKER X I INTENTIONALLY VECTORED THIS PATTERN WIDE TO GIVE HIM ENOUGH ROOM. WHEN Y WAS BEING CLRED FOR HIS APCH (ILS) I OBSERVED THE DEP OFF OF THE RWY AND OBSERVED HIM IN A RIGHT TURN. MY ATTN WAS THEN DRAWN TO THE 2 ACFT ON BASE LEG AND TO MY FLT #2 WHICH NEEDED A SPLIT UP. WHEN I RETURNED TO THE DEPARTING ACFT I OBSERVED HIM APCHING 2.8 MI OFF THE DEP END OF THE RWY AND CLOSING FAST WITH Y. I THEN ISSUED AN IMMEDIATE TURN TO X AND HE REPLIED THAT HE WAS IN THE TURN. I THEN HAD HDOF CTLR BREAK OUT ACFT Y (TALKING WITH EIL RFC) TO THE N. THE 2 ACFT PASSED WITHIN 200' VERT AND BTWN 1/2-1 MI. I WAS TO LATER FIND OUT THAT MY DEP RESTRICTIONS WERE NOT ISSUED. APPARENTLY MY HDOF CTLR ONLY HEARD 'TURN RIGHT HDG 270.' ADDITIONALLY THE ACFT WAS LIMITED TO NO MORE THAN A 15 DEG TURN DUE TO HIS WT. I ALSO MIGHT ADD THAT WHEN I GAVE Y HIS FREQ CHANGE IT WAS DURING THE PERIOD WHEN I WAS LOOKING AT X; WHO HAD ALREADY BECOME AIRBORNE AND TURNING. SINCE THIS INCIDENT I HAVE PUT A LOT OF THOUGHT INTO WHAT HAPPENED. I BELIEVE THAT MY MISTAKE WAS MADE IN JUDGEMENT; I SHOULD HAVE KEPT Y UNTIL X WAS NO LONGER A FACTOR. I DID AT THE TIME FEEL THAT ADEQUATE SEP BTWN THESE 2 ACFT WAS THERE AND WITH X IN HIS TURN NO CONFLICT WAS POSSIBLE. BY THE WAY THE ACFT PASSED BY EACH OTHER AT APPROX 5-6 MI OFF THE DEP END OF THE RWY. SUPPLEMENTAL INFO FROM ACN 99139: I WAS WORKING AS ASSISTANT CTLR (HDOF) POS. EIL TWR REQUESTED RELEASE FOR TANKER X TO DEP OPP DIRECTION RWY 13 (31 WAS THE ACTIVE RWY). SUBSEQUENT INFO HAS PROVEN THAT A LOADED TANKER X TYPE CANNOT TURN UNTIL CERTAIN SPD AND ALT CRITERIA ARE MET. MORAL: KNOW THE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE AIRPLANES UNDER YOUR CTL. IF YOU DON'T KNOW; FIND OUT BEFORE WHEELING AND DEALING!

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