N122US

On September 16, 2010, about 6:49 a.m. CDT, an air traffic control operational error resulted in a near-midair-collision between US Airways flight 1848 (AWE 1848), an Airbus 320, operating as a scheduled 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) part 121 passenger flight en route to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, carrying five crewmembers and 90 passengers, and Bemidji Aviation Services flight 46 (BMJ46), a Beech 99 cargo flight with only the pilot aboard, operating as a 14 CFR part 135 cargo flight en route to LaCrosse, Wisconsin. Weather conditions at the time were reported ceiling 900 feet and visibility 10 miles.

The local north controller (LCN) cleared AWE1848 into position and hold on runway 30R at 0647:50. At 0648:02, the LCN controller instructed the pilot to fly runway heading and cleared AWE1848 for takeoff. At 0649:26, the LCN controller instructed AWE1848 to turn left heading 260 and contact departure control. The pilot acknowledged.

At 0648:15, the local south controller (LCS) contacted the E position radar controller at Minneapolis departure control to obtain approval to assign Bemidji 46 (BMJ46) heading 180 degrees after takeoff. The radar controller approved the request. At 0648:31, the LCS controller instructed BMJ46 to turn left heading 180 after departure, and cleared the pilot for takeoff on runway 30L. The pilot acknowledged. The aircraft departed and continued straight out from runway 30L for about 2 miles. At 0650:26, the LCS controller asked, "Bemidji 46 are you in the turn?" The pilot replied, "46 say again the turn?” The LCS controller transmitted, "Bemidji 46 heading 180." The pilot of BMJ 46 replied, "46 left to 180." At 0650:54, the LCS controller transmitted, "Bemidji 46 remain this frequency maintain 4000 heading 180." At 0651:00, the pilot of Bemidji 46 responded, "4000 180 and I've got traffic." At 0651:41, Bemidji 46 transmitted, "Bemidji 46 going to departure." At 0651:44, the LCS controller transmitted, "Bemidji 46 now contact departure." At 0651:47, Bemidji 46 transmitted, "46 has that traffic up ahead there I wasn't notified about that." The LCS controller replied, "okay why didn't you start the turn once you were airborne?”The pilot replied, "all right okay I'm going to departure sorry about that."

At 0649:49, AWE1848 made a partial transmission to departure control, stating "1848 is...". At 0649:55, the pilot of AWE1848 transmitted, "1848 we’re with you what's this guy doing off the left side?” The departure controller replied, "cactus 1848 Minneapolis departure radar contact it looks like he's possibly straight out." The pilot responded, "okay we just had a we just we heard the guy go by." The departure controller responded, "Cactus 1848 I'll tell the tower, radar contact climb and maintain 17,000.” The pilot acknowledged the clearance, and at 0650:24 continued, "yet he gave us a left turn ah coming out of there.” At 0650:28, the departure controller stated, "yeah I think the 99 that was off your right was straight out off the same runway I'm not really sure but I'll ask him for you." The pilot responded, "yeah he was on the left side we got an RA on it and we responded we did hear the aircraft go by." At 0651:27, the pilot of AWE 1848 transmitted, "... advised me that that controller’s been relieved of duty at the moment." The departure controller responded, "... we are working on it right now stand by."

On September 17, US Airways filed a traffic alerting and collision avoidance system (TCAS) report regarding this incident:

"...At 0649 we were cleared for takeoff to fly runway heading (299deg). At 400ft AGL [above ground level] the first officer (pilot flying) called for runway heading, at the same time KMSP tower told us to turn left to a heading of 260 and call departure at 124.7. (from the original of 125.75) We turned to heading 260 and at that time we received a TCAS R/A [resolution advisory]. We were in a normal takeoff climb rate when the TCAS commanded a much greater climb to clear the conflicting traffic. The first officer responded with a swift pull-up. During this time I observed a red target on the TCAS display to our immediate left, that showed a -100ft [100 feet below]. (We were in the clouds at about 500ft and could not see the aircraft.) Within just a few seconds I heard the whine of turboprops go under our aircraft from left to right. After this the TCAS gave a "clear of conflict" and we returned to normal flight. After the flight I consulted with KMSP ATC and learned that the tower controller on 30R turned us into the path of a Beechcraft 99 departing from 30L."

Review of recorded radar data showed that the paths of the two aircraft crossed at 0649:58. Plots of the radar data for the two aircraft have been placed in the docket.

While the initial operational error was being reviewed, a second error involving AWE1848 and BMJ46 was found. The second error occurred after the LCS controller instructed BMJ46 to turn left to heading 180 when the aircraft was about two miles northwest of the airport. This instruction again put the two aircraft into conflict, with separation of 500 feet and 1.23 miles. Minimum required separation was 1000 feet or 3 miles.

PERSONNEL STATEMENTS

When the incident occurred, there were two supervisors on duty at the tower. One was working in the tower cab and was responsible for the overall operation. The second supervisor was performing administrative duties in the office area downstairs from the tower cab, but was available to provide assistance if needed. There were two local controllers on duty. The Local Control North (LCN) controller was responsible for operations on runway 30R, and the Local Control South (LCS) controller was responsible for operations on runway 30L as well as runway 17/35, although that runway was not in use at the time. Immediately before the incident, the LCS controller was working the LCS, LCN, and LCW positions combined, and the LCN controller was working a ground control position. Their position assignments were changed by the tower supervisor to accommodate existing and expected traffic conditions.

Local Control South (LCS)

The LCS controller began working for the FAA in 1982 and came to MSP ATCT in September 2005.

The incident occurred on the last day of his work week, and he was working a 0600-1400 shift. He reported going to bed around 10 or 11 pm the previous evening and awakening at 4:45 am. This is a normal amount of sleep for him. He arrived at the tower at 0600, and stated that he "felt good" that morning.

Initially, the LCS controller was responsible for the LCN, LCS, and LCW positions, which is typical for very early morning operations. Runway 17/35 was inactive because of the low ceilings and the winds. The LCS controller stated that when he took over the position he noted that there were low ceilings in the area, and he obtained a pilot report off the departure end of runways 30L/R stating that the cloud bases were at 1900 feet above sea level. The visibility was good below the cloud deck, and it was a cool morning so aircraft were climbing well.

The morning Bemidji flights [contract cargo carriers] began taxiing out from the freight ramp around 0630 or 0635. At that time the ground control positions were combined at Ground Control South. About 0630, the controllers began to split the ground control positions. One of the controllers that had been working ground control was assigned to take over the LCN position about 0645. The LCS controller gave the new LCN controller a position relief briefing and gave him the LCN flight strips. The LCS controller then relinquished control of the LCN frequency. The LCS controller informed the new LCN controller that he had not had time to coordinate with the TRACON for a southbound departure for AWE1848. This would not have been the normal route for AWE1848 to follow. The change was necessary to avoid a conflict between the faster jet and preceding slow traffic that had just departed from runway 30R and was still north of the airport.

After the LCN position was split from LCS, the LCS controller remained responsible for runway 30L and runway 35. However, runway 35 was inactive. Air Transport 808, a heavy DC-8, landed on runway 30L and asked to roll to the end. A Learjet landed shortly afterward. During this time, the LCS controller coordinated a southbound heading for BMJ46 with the departure radar controller. The radar controller approved the heading, so the LCS controller instructed BMJ46 to fly heading 180 degrees after departure and cleared the aircraft for takeoff.

While BMJ46 was departing, Air Transport 808 began asking questions about his taxi route. The LCS controller stated that he became distracted in dealing with Air Transport 808 and was not watching BMJ46. He did not notice that BMJ46 was not turning as soon as he expected. The aircraft continued straight out from runway 30L and conflicted with AWE1848.

After dealing with Air Transport 808, the LCS controller stated that he looked at the radar display and saw the two targets for AWE1848 and BMJ46 merging just as the conflict alert alarm went off. He kept working traffic at LCS until relieved from the position about five minutes later. After he left the position, he went to the break room. Shortly afterward he was called to the quality assurance office where he met with the administrative supervisor, the air traffic manager, and several other members of the quality assurance staff. He was in the quality assurance office for several hours. He and the LCN controller did not complete controller statements until about 1230, or possibly later. The group reviewed a replay and listen to the audio recordings as part of the initial investigation. That afternoon, there was a roundtable discussion that reviewed what had taken place and attempted to put the events in chronological order.

Asked about his initial plan ...