General Mitchell International Airport: Runway Incursions

Serious incursions (Category A and B)

• 2012-03-11 · General Mitchell International Airport · C750 · RWY 19L · Category A

  C750 REQUESTED TAXI FROM THE RAMP AT TAXIWAY ALPHA 3 FOR DEPARTURE. INITIAL TAXI INSTRUCTIONS FROM GROUND CONTROL (GC) WERE TO CROSS RUNWAY 25L AT ALPHA 3 WITHOUT DELAY, TO ALPHA AND "MORE TO FOLLOW". THE C750 THEN ADVISED THAT HE WAS NOT READY TO TAXI. THE SECOND TAXI CLEARANCE WAS TO CROSS RUNWAY 25L, VIA TAXIWAY ALFA AND MIKE HOLD SHORT OF RUNWAY 19R. (GC DID NOT ISSUE A DEPARTURE RUNWAY ASSIGNMENT). READ BACK WAS CORRECT. GC SUBSEQUENTLY INSTRUCTED THE C750 TO CROSS RUNWAY 19R ON TAXIWAY MIKE AND HOLD SHORT OF RUNWAY 19L. READ BACK WAS CORRECT. GC TWICE INSTRUCTED THE C750 TO CROSS RUNWAY 19L AND TO MONITOR LOCAL CONTROL (LC). C750 DID NOT ACKNOWLEDGE. (THE C750 DID NOT CROSS RUNWAY 19L ON MIKE). THE C750 CALLED LC READY FOR TAKEOFF, WHILE STILL HOLDING SHORT OF RUNWAY 19L. THE PILOT ASKED HOW MUCH RUNWAY WAS FROM HIS LOCATION TO THE END, AND ADVISED THAT HE NEEDED 5,000 FEET. LC RESPONDED THAT THE C750 HAD ABOUT THAT MUCH DISTANCE REMAINING. (RUNWAY 19L IS 4,183 FEET LONG, FULL-LENGTH, WITH 2,900 FEET AVAILABLE FROM TAXIWAY MIKE). THE C750 ADVISED HE WAS READY TO GO. LC CLEARED C750 FOR TAKEOFF RUNWAY 25L. THE C750 READ BACK TAKEOFF CLEARANCE ON RUNWAY 25L "AT MIKE", BUT TURNED RIGHT ON RUNWAY 19L AND BEGAN TAKEOFF ACCELERATION. LC OBSERVED THE WRONG-RUNWAY DEPARTURE DEVELOPING, AND CANCELLED THE C750'S TAKEOFF CLEARANCE. (ASDE-X ANALYSIS INDICATES THE AIRCRAFT REACHED A SPEED OF NEARLY 90 KNOTS BEFORE SUCCESSFULLY ABORTING). AFTER ABORTING TAKEOFF, THE C750 STATED "MY APOLOGIES, 19R. I MISUNDERSTOOD. I THOUGHT IT WAS 19R WE WERE SAYING" INDICATING HE THOUGHT HE WAS DEPARTING ON RUNWAY 19R ALTHOUGH THE AIRCRAFT WAS INSTEAD ON 19L.

• 2008-03-12 · General Mitchell International Airport · HXB (EXP) · RWY 7L · Category A

  RUNWAY 1L WAS CLOSED NORTH OF 7R AND COUNTY VEHICLES WERE AUTHORIZED TO OPERATE ON 1L NORTH OF THE INTERSECTION OF RUNWAY 7R. LOCAL CONTROL REQUESTED TO ACTIVATE RUNWAY 7L FOR AN ARRIVAL, WHICH WAS APPROVED BY THE GROUND CONTROLLER. THE COUNTY VEHICLES WERE NEVER ISSUED HOLD SHORT INSTRUCTIONS AND A VANS RV6 (HXB EXPERIMENTAL) CROSSED THE THRESHOLD OF 7L AS THE COUNTY VEHICLES WERE IN THE INTERSECTION OF 1L AND 7L. THE RV6 LANDED THEN PILOT SPOTTED THE VEHICLES AND INITIATED A GO-AROUND ON HIS OWN. THE RV6 ROTATED AT THE INTERSECTION OF 13/7L, WHICH IS APPROXIMATELY 1,200 FEET FROM 1L/7L, AND FLEW OVER THE VEHICLES BY 40 FEET VERTICAL.