Originally Posted by
Stuck_in_an_ATR
Unfortunatlely, that's the approach exhibited by the ATC VERY often - at least where I fly... Guys, please try to remember that the main goal is not to be okay with all the procedures, but to avoid accidnets at all cost...
Great comment here. I am getting worried about the emphasis on apportioning blame towards the controller although accidents like this are always the result of the "holes lining up in the swiss cheese" lining up.
From a controllers point I was trained to watch EVERY take-off and EVERY landing (yes I know you can't do that in fog) and on the landings to make sure I saw the wheels down (which saved embarrassment on a few occasions)
Even with this instilled it is still encumbent on the pilot doing the right thing where it may be difficult for the controller to see anything unusual - it may have been difficult for the controller in this case to actually perceive the aircraft rolling on the wrong runway until it was well into the take-off roll.
There was a very lucky accident which fortunately resulted in no loss of life at Sydney back in the late 60's. A a DC8 on a dark rainy night back tracked up RWY16 after being told "take taxyway right, call ground on...." The pilot thought the ADC said "backtrack if you like" and did just that. As the DC8 had called on ground freq and appeared to be taxying along the parallel taxyway, a B727 was cleared for take-off on RWY16. The airborne B727 had its belly opened up like a sardine can by the tail of the DC8 but managed to scarp around the circuit without hydraulics and land safely. Brilliant effort Jimmy James!
An example of all procedures followed but still an accident.
And by the way worked at a then fairly busy non radar tower with a mixture of jet, turbines and bug smashers and workload priorities dictated that the provision of visual separation and watching each take-off and landing were the highest on the list. From seeing some operations in recent times it seems that.... nah won't even go there!!