Originally Posted by
Chiefttp
ExDac,
Easier to type! I’m getting Carpel Tunnel syndrome typing SMGCS 10 times!
This incident will boil down to
1. What was going through the mind of the Tower Controller when he cleared Southwest to takeoff
2. How aware was the Southwest crew of FedEx’s location on the Cat III
approach
3. The Tower controller’s qualifications and employment history.
As an aside,
During my Air Force days, we had a mid-air collision between 2 C-141’s during a formation Air Refueling mission. There were robust and highly detailed procedures to choreograph the refueling of multiple aircraft with multiple tankers in a small slice of airspace. The midair collision was caused by one aircraft who didn’t follow the correct maneuver after he refueled possibly due to vertigo There was nothing wrong with the procedures, and we flew them successfully for decades, the accident was due to one airplane not following the procedure. After the accident, the Air Force made wholesale revisions to our formation air refueling procedures which made them more complex and less safe! An overreaction if there ever was one. There is nothing wrong with the U.S. CAT II/3.
procedures. If this accident occurred at LHR, and LVP was announced, and the Tower controller cleared a RyanAir 737 in front of a BA787 on 3 mile final, would all be decrying a change of procedures? or blame the Tower Controller?
I'm not convinced anyone can claim there's nothing wrong with any procedure, until such times as the investigation is complete. The Heathrow analogy wouldn't arise, as they use different runways for arrivals & departures anyway, but I'd like to think nobody would be blaming anyone - they'd be looking at the causal factors & how to address & correct them.