ATC Watcher,
You asked,
”On the profieciency an training , that is indeed the issue: What I would love to know is if the idea of letting aircraft line up and depart when another is 3 Miles out is a deviation of normal procedures in AUS ( as the SW response to the clearance could indicate) of just that perticular controller own procedure, and if it was , was it the first time he did this or he did this since a long time and went unhallenged by his peers?. Controllers, just like Piots very rarely work alone.”
I assure you 100%, that allowing an aircraft to takeoff in extreme low visibility conditions, with another Aircraft on 3 mile final, who happens to be flying one of the most demanding approaches an airline pilot could attempt, is Not the norm in the US! This controller made a big mistake. Personally, if I were to speculate, I’d say that the Southwest call, “ Holding Short” caused the Tower controller, out of habit, to clear SW for takeoff, (FedEx, less than one min away!) It is not normal. Despite the fact that there are no announcements of “LVP procedures in effect” at US airports, we are all quite aware of what we need to do in order to safely operate in low vis conditions. Chalk this up to the Tower Controller having a bad day, he made a quick, spur of the moment decision, perhaps out of habit, to clear SW to takeoff, then realizing his error, hoped that SW would expedite their takeoff roll. When SW didn’t expedite, He asked them if they (Southwest) were rolling. , which is further proof that he realized how tight this spacing was. It’s not a systemic issue, it’s not American cowboy mentality, its either incompetence or a simple mistake. 99.99% of Tower controllers would not clear another jet to takeoff in those conditions in front of the FedEx jet.
obviously just my opinion.