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Zoner
2nd Nov 2006, 19:36
http://www.komotv.com/news/local/4536186.html

Alaska Airlines, FAA investigating takeoff from wrong runway


Story Published: Oct 31, 2006 at 9:30 PM PST
Story Updated: Oct 31, 2006 at 9:30 PM PST
By Associated Press
SEATTLE (AP) - Alaska Airlines and federal officials are investigating why one of the carrier's jets took off from the wrong runway at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.

The incident happened about 8:40 a.m. Monday when Alaska Flight 61, a Boeing 737, was preparing to take off for Juneau, Alaska, with four crew members and 63 passengers, airline spokeswoman Amanda Tobin Bielawski said Tuesday.

The Federal Aviation Administration says the plane was told by air traffic controllers to depart from Runway 34 Center. The pilots twice correctly read back that they were going from 34 Center, but instead took off from Runway 34 Right.

The runway was clear, and air traffic controllers did not ask the plane to abort its takeoff, which occurred normally, Bielawski said.

"We are currently reviewing the situation in conjunction with the FAA," she said.

She said she was not aware of any preliminary explanation of why the mishap occurred, or when crew members realized they had taken off from the wrong runway. She said no action had been taken against any of the crew members.

"Right now, the situation is under review and we need to wait for that review," she said.

It's unclear how long the review will take, Bielawski said.

"We're definitely looking to take steps, if appropriate, to prevent a recurrence of this situation," she said.

con-pilot
2nd Nov 2006, 19:42
A very independent lot those Alaskan pilots are.:p

aimscabinet
3rd Nov 2006, 17:33
Alaska Airlines, FAA investigating takeoff from wrong runway



The Federal Aviation Administration says the plane was told by air traffic controllers to depart from Runway 34 Center. The pilots twice correctly read back that they were going from 34 Center, but instead took off from Runway 34 Right.

Is there a R34C in KSEA?? I always thought of 34R/L:ugh:

Thanks

barit1
3rd Nov 2006, 17:37
This chart (http://www.airnav.com/airport/KSEA)is evidently out of date.

Zeffy
3rd Nov 2006, 17:38
http://www.naco.faa.gov/d-tpp/0611/00582AD.PDF

hobie
3rd Nov 2006, 19:13
interesting point? ...... Zeffy's chart shows runways marked 34R and 34C ....

Google Earth shows runways marked 34R and 34L ....

why would that be I wonder? .....:confused:

(see close ups below)



http://i11.tinypic.com/4haw8rm.jpg



http://i11.tinypic.com/4htj9ud.jpg

http://i11.tinypic.com/2vjubr9.jpg

M609
3rd Nov 2006, 19:22
why would that be I wonder? .....

Because Google Earth have images that are more then 3 years old in some cases......

PaperTiger
3rd Nov 2006, 19:22
interesting point? ...... Zeffy's chart shows runways marked 34R and 34C ....
Google Earth shows runways marked 34R and 34L ....
why would that be I wonder? .....:confused:Because that's a very old photo. The 3rd SEA runway (the putative 34L) has been under construction for 6 years, now that it's actually beginning to look like a runway the old 34L was renumbered to avoid confusion. Or not... :hmm:

hobie
3rd Nov 2006, 19:48
Because Google Earth have images that are more then 3 years old in some cases......

Because that's a very old photo. The 3rd SEA runway (the putative 34L) has been under construction for 6 years, now that it's actually beginning to look like a runway the old 34L was renumbered to avoid confusion. Or not...

Google Earth ..... don't you just love it ... :p

thank's for that clarification ..... :ok:

Lon More
4th Nov 2006, 09:25
F.A.A. Finds More Errors on Runways

<http://graphics8.nytimescom/>
Ed Reinkel/Associated Press

Investigators examining the wreckage in August in Lexington, Ky.

By MATTHEW <http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/w/matthew_l_wald/index.html?inline=nyt-per> L. WALD
Published: November 3, 2006

CHANTILLY, Va., Nov. 2 — Using the wrong runway, the error that led to the crash in Kentucky that killed 49 people in August, is not so rare, a top official of the Federal Aviation Administration said Thursday at a safety conference.

A search of 10 years of records found 117 other cases in which the crew was confused, said the official, Nicholas A. Sabatini, the associate administrator for aviation safety.

That number does not include two cases in the past week.

On Saturday evening in Newark, a Continental Airlines Boeing 757 mistook a taxiway for the parallel runway and landed on it. The taxiway was empty, which is not always the case, and no damage resulted.

On Monday at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, controllers said an Alaska Airlines 737 had taken off on the wrong runway; safety officials are investigating whether the problem was confusion between the tower and the cockpit about which runway had been assigned.

In the Kentucky crash, on Aug. 29, a single taxiway led to both runways at the Lexington airport, but one runway was long enough only for propeller traffic, not regional jets like the plane that crashed.

Aviation experts later said that to end up on the wrong runway, the crew would apparently have had to ignore the heading indicator in the cockpit, which shows, in compass degrees, which way the plane is pointed. Runways are named for their compass orientation.

To find the 117 cases of runway confusion, the F.A.A. <http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/f/federal_aviation_administration/index.html?inline=nyt-org> had to go through more than five million records, and it knew what it was looking for. Finding such problems before an accident is more of a challenge, Mr. Sabatini said.

The Lexington crash fit loosely into the category of runway safety, already a subject of grave concern in the industry. The National <http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/n/national_transportation_safety_board/index.html?inline=nyt-org> Transportation Safety Board lists protection against “runway incursion” as one “most wanted” safety improvement, and has declared unacceptable the F.A.A.’s responses to its previous recommendations on that subject.

Runway incursion occurs when a plane, a vehicle or a pedestrian strays onto a runway that has been assigned for use by another plane. The Lexington accident involved a single plane, so it did not strictly meet that definition

But John Clark, the chief of aviation safety for the board, who also attended the conference here, said the Lexington accident and the incidents in Newark and Seattle, both now under investigation by the board, were “runway incursion-type things.” Mr. Clark offered a less formal definition of runway incursion: when a pilot “was doing something he was not supposed to be doing” on the runway.

The problem becomes more serious as the number of takeoffs and landings increases.

Hardware already on airliners could be used to make it harder for crews to pick the wrong runway but has been used only on wide-body jets.

Airliners already carry a system that uses global positioning to warn pilots if they are too close to the ground or heading into a mountain. The leading manufacturer of those units, Honeywell, is trying to sell a software upgrade that makes the system announce, in a mechanical voice, which runway the plane is on. The system knows what kind of plane it is installed on, and its approximate required length for takeoff. If the runway is too short, as it was in Lexington, the system makes announcements like “3,000 feet remaining,” as a warning.

But the system costs about $18,000 per plane, and the F.A.A. does not require it.

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jondc9
5th Nov 2006, 01:06
gee, why don't we all just slow down a bit and do it right the first time?



using a localizer for runway alignment might help (bc too).

j