Originally Posted by
ethicalconundrum
"Whole cheese theory." I like that.
I recall, FDX did challenge it, yes? ATC confirmed back to FDX, yes? SWA should tell the controller he is ready, then when given the T/O clearance reject it, and go right back and tell the ATC he is not controlling his area ops right? I gotta get me some of dat cheese. Born in Oconomowoc so it'll be like old home week for me.
From your silly comments, I'll just assume you're not a licensed pilot.
1. No, the FX pilots never challenged the takeoff clearance given to the WN pilots. The FX pilots did query the tower to confirm they were still cleared to land some amount of time after the WN clearance.
2. When the WN pilots requested takeoff clearance it's probable they didn't know an FX heavy was on a short, three-mile final. And that's fine. When a pilot is ready to go and holding short of the runway you request takeoff clearance, even if you know it won't be immediately granted. But when the WN pilots did get a clearance *and* were informed that there was traffic on a three-mile final that should have set off some mental alarms especially if the pilots knew there would be a delay to the takeoff roll due to needing to run up the engines due to potential ice fog, freezing temps, etc. Given that, any pilot is free to reject an ATC clearance or instruction if the deem that clearance or instruction would jeopardize the safety of their aircraft or occupants and/or their aircraft couldn't execute said instruction.
What would you have done (if you were actually a licensed pilot)? What if you were holding short of an active runway, there was an aircraft lined up and waiting, you asked for a takeoff clearance, and were mistakenly granted clearance? Are you telling me you would have accepted that clearance, taxied onto the runway, taxied clear and in front of the aircraft holding, and then began your takeoff roll? Of course not. You would have promptly rejected the takeoff clearance and informed the tower you could not comply because there was already an aircraft lined up and waiting on the runway they should cleared you for.
I'm not at all absolving the controller for the mistakes he made and for starting the chain of events. But that doesn't mean errors in judgement weren't also made by other stakeholders (the FX and WN pilots).