N79960

HISTORY OF FLIGHT

On March 9, 2000, about 1035 eastern standard time, [NOTE 1] a Cessna 172K, N79960, registered to Sarasota Flying Club, Inc., and operating as a 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 91 personal flight, and a Cessna 152, N89827, registered to Cirrus Aviation, Inc., and operating as a 14 CFR Part 91 instructional flight, collided during takeoff on runway 14 at the Sarasota Bradenton International Airport (SRQ), Sarasota, Florida. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time. No flight plans were filed, nor were they required to be. The airline transport-rated pilot and pilot-rated passenger on board N79960 were killed, and the commercial-rated flight instructor and student pilot on board N89827 were killed. Both airplanes were destroyed.

At 1024:46, the pilot of N89827, which was at the Dolphin Aviation ramp, [NOTE 2] called the SRQ ground control/clearance delivery controller (GC) requesting a visual flight rules (VFR) departure. At 1025:24, the GC instructed N89827 to taxi to runway 14. N89827 proceeded to runway 14 via taxiway A. As the GC issued the taxi instructions to N89827, he was relieved by the supervisor/ground controller (SGC), who prepared a flight progress strip for N89827 indicating that the airplane was instructed to taxi to the end of runway 14 and passed it to the local controller (LC). The GC then provided a relief briefing to the SGC and left the tower cab.

At 1025:46, the pilot of N52553, a Cessna 172, called for an instrument flight rules (IFR) clearance. At 1025:56, the pilot of N5287V, a Cessna Cutlass, transmitted the following message: "Sarasota clearance seneca [er] cutlass five two eight seven victor at Jones aero [NOTE 3] with mike...negative radar to Clearwater air park." At 1026:11, the SGC issued a Class C clearance and transponder code to N5287V. The pilot of N5287V indicated that he was ready to taxi and that he was at "Jones aero." At 1026:34, the SGC instructed N5287V to "taxi westbound from Jones runway [14] foxtrot intersection." The SGC prepared a flight progress strip on N5287V indicating "14/F" and "PASE" (indicating that the airplane was a Piper Seneca). The pilot of N5287V stated that he "missed the last part," and the SGC stated, "expect the runway [14] foxtrot intersection." At 1026:46, the pilot of N5287V acknowledged the instruction, but the last part of his transmission was covered by the initial call of N79960. At 1026:55, the SGC advised N79960 to stand by and issued the IFR clearance to N52533. The pilot of N52533 stated that he was not yet ready to taxi.

At 1028:03, the pilot of N79960 [NOTE 4] stated, "at Jones and ready to taxi." The SGC issued a Class C clearance and transponder code to N79960, which the pilot acknowledged. At 1028:45, the SGC instructed N79960 to "taxi to runway[14]," which the pilot acknowledged. The SGC prepared a flight strip on N79960 indicating "14." N79960 proceeded via taxiway F and held short of runway 14 at the intersection. [NOTE 5] At 1028:52, the pilot of N52553 stated that he was "ready to taxi." The SGC confirmed N52553's location at the Dolphin Aviation ramp and issued taxi instructions "to runway [14]," which the pilot acknowledged. At 1029:41, N9801Y, a Mooney that had just landed, requested a taxi back to runway 14. At 1030:05, the SGC stated, "calling for taxiback, say again." The pilot of N9801Y responded that he would "like to taxi back and takeoff again"; the SGC advised N9801Y to stand by. At 1030:33, the pilot of N215JA, a Cessna 152 that was at Jones Aviation, stated, "we are ready to taxi." At 1030:37, the SGC instructed N9801Y to "taxi to runway [14]." At 1030:58, the pilot of N215JA stated, "at Jones...would like negative radar class C service toward Venice please." The SGC issued a Class C clearance and transponder code and directed N215JA to "taxi westbound to runway [14] foxtrot intersection." At taxiway A, N89827, N52553, and N9801Y were waiting in sequence; at taxiway F, N5287V, N79960, and N215JA were waiting in sequence.

At 1030:42, the pilot of N89827 made his first contact with the LC and stated, "ready for takeoff"; the LC instructed N89827 to "hold short." At 1031:08, the LC asked, "who's at the approach end of runway [14] ready to depart?" The pilot of N89827 stated, "eight two seven," and the LC stated, "I show you at foxtrot." At 1031:15, the pilot of N5287V transmitted, "no sir, that's eight seven victor at foxtrot"; the LC acknowledged the transmission. At 1031:29, the LC asked the pilot of N5287V if he was ready to depart; the pilot responded "affirmative." The LC stated, "I show you as a seneca...you're not a seneca are you?" The pilot stated, "no...I'm used to flying a seneca." The LC instructed N5287V to hold short.

At 1032:46, the pilot of N79960 made his first contact with the LC and stated, "this is...nine six zero we're number two ready for takeoff." The LC advised N79960 that it was "number three for departure, hold short." At 1033:57, the LC stated to N89827, "runway [14], taxi into position and hold, traffic will depart down field also." At 1034:06, the LC instructed N5287V, "runway [14] at fox[trot], taxi into position and hold." The pilot of N5287V acknowledged the instruction. At 1034:22, the LC cleared N5287V for takeoff from the taxiway F intersection.

The LC waited until N5287V became airborne, and at 1034:43, he cleared N89827 for takeoff from the approach end of runway 14, which the pilot acknowledged. Witnesses stated that they observed N89827 begin a takeoff roll from the end of runway 14. At 1034:51, the LC instructed N79960 to "taxi into position and hold," which the pilot acknowledged. Witnesses stated that when N89827 reached takeoff speed (near the 6,000-foot remaining marker), N79960 entered the runway from a taxiway on the left side of the runway. Witnesses further indicated that after N89827 lifted off and was a few feet in the air, it turned right in what appeared to be an attempt to avoid a collision with N79960. Witnesses stated that N89827 then appeared to stall and crash into N79960. Both airplanes immediately burst into flames, nosed over, and came to rest on runway 14. A loud burst of static and an emergency locator transmitter signal was heard on the air traffic control (ATC) voice tape. At 1035:21, an unidentified pilot stated, "tower you have a fire on runway [14]." The LC initiated crash, fire, and rescue response. The tower manager called the Tampa ATC tower and advised them to hold all traffic, and the LC instructed aircraft in the area to depart the pattern. Recorded radar data obtained from the FAA Tampa Approach Control, Sarasota antenna, plotted the positions of the airplanes on the airport; the radar time was 20 seconds ahead of the time on the recorded communications transcript.

In a postaccident interview with a National Transportation Safety Board investigator, the LC stated that he had been on duty in the LC position for about 20 minutes before the accident. He stated that he had "two or three Cessnas at (taxiway) F, two Cessnas and a Mooney at (taxiway) A." In addition, he stated that there were two airplanes airborne, one operating in the traffic pattern and another executing a practice approach. He stated that all airplanes except one were VFR. He further stated that he instructed the airplane that was executing the practice approach to break off the procedure early to allow the departures to leave.

In addition, the LC stated to a Safety Board investigator that initially some confusion existed about the locations of N89827 and N5287V. He stated that he cleared N5287V for takeoff and that when he observed N5287V become airborne, he cleared N89827 for takeoff. He further stated that he then instructed N79960 to taxi into position and hold. The LC stated that he issued this instruction because he recalled the pilot transmitting "number two," and the flight progress strip indicated "14." He stated that he saw two Cessnas on taxiway F "facing into the wind, in (the) runup position." He indicated that this reinforced his belief that N79960 was behind N89827 at taxiway A. The LC stated that, after issuing the instruction to N79960, he scanned the final approach area and "may have looked at the BRITE display." The LC also stated that he noticed that the Cessna holding short at taxiway A was not moving; however, he indicated that he did not attach any significance to that "because sometimes they're slow to go into position, they take a while." He stated that he then looked up at the runway and saw an explosion. He indicated that he immediately picked up the crash phone to notify airport emergency personnel.

The LC stated that he "always [states] the intersection" when clearing an aircraft for an intersection takeoff. He also indicated that there is no written standard strip marking procedure for intersection departures at the SRQ ATC tower. [NOTE 6] He stated that he marked strips "how I had been trained." He further stated that he had seen symbols such as "F/14," "14/F," or "14xF" to indicate an intersection departure from runway 14 at taxiway F. He indicated that "14" would indicate a full-length departure. He also stated that he used no particular method for sequencing strips and that GCs at SRQ typically do not place them in a sequence position before giving them to the LC.

In a postaccident interview with a Safety Board investigator, the SGC stated that he received a thorough relief briefing from the GC. The SGC also stated that the traffic at the time of the accident was moderately busy and that he did not observe any adverse weather or equipment problems. He stated that he normally states the intersection identifier when positioning aircraft for an intersection departure. He further stated that he typically marks strips using the runway number and a slant, followed by the intersection identifier, for intersection departures. The SGC in...