Originally Posted by
Chiefttp
as witnessed by the audio tape
Not doubting for one second your firsthand insights in the matter, this particular half-hour recording had 9 minutes of actual transmissions out of 32 minutes of recording. Compared to the traffic load on the airport at that specific time (two times two aircraft), operating intersecting runways is far more of a challenge, especially with these 4 movements so tightly intermeshed.
On another matter, I hesitated and refrained from posting, but now I'm at it, I might as well post it as a matter of discussion. Similar to the sterile flight deck concept:
Distractions occur frequently in operation rooms or at the controllers working positions (CWPs). Air Traffic Control Officers (ATCOs) are facing these distractions day to day apart from performing their duties. The detrimental effect of distractions poses considerable threats to the safe operation of the air traffic management (ATM) system which may cause significant safety issues.
While listening to the ATC recording leading up to the incident, I made a few notes that would be quite meaningless, if no incident had taken place:
* on several TWR transmissions, voices in the background can be heard (which of course is not uncommon)
* at least on two transmissions, one could draw the (premature) conclusion that one was suppressing some form of laughter while speaking. One transmission was preceded with a few short unmodulated transmissions, possibly indicating hesitation or inability to state what needed to be stated.
* on one exchange the callsign of the carrier was incorrect, the flightnumber was correct (can happen to the best)
* on one ATC handover, an incorrect and totally different frequency was given, and upon the aircrew's acknowledgement which was 1 digit off, TWR gave the completely different, but correct frequency (can also happen to the best)
All small, almost meaningless events, that leading up to the incident, makes one wonder how sterile the working environment was...
Originally Posted by
BFSGrad
Regarding the “is he off the runway yet” transmission, I think that was from the CRJ. To me it sounded like someone in the CRJ inadvertently keyed the mic transmitting the dialogue between the CRJ PF/PM; i.e., “is he off the runway yet, no, we’re going around.”
Not that it matters in the analysis of the incident (only to compliment the SA of the unknown party), but when looking at the waveform of the transmissions, the CRJ had a specific pattern (from the -not uncommon to jets- whistling noise in the background) which made it stand out from rest on the freq. at that moment. The “
is he off the runway yet” transmission was ended with a click (release of the PTT button) more like the Cirrus's transmissions. It were also 3 distinct transmission, one of unknown source and two from the CRJ. So it was either another aircraft, another pilot stepping in only for this transmission (which I'm inclined to believe), or it indeed came from the CRJ, with the first transmission (inadvertently) by the other CRJ crewmember, using a sound-technically different headset/mic.