Near Collision at BOS between Aer Lingus and US Air
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NTSB simulation and report
The NTSB has released a computer simulation of the near-collision at Boston's Logan Airport between an Aer Lingus flight and a US Airways flight, both departing nearly simultaneously on intersecting runways.
http://www.ntsb.gov/Recs/mostwanted/index.htm
The vertical separation was 106 feet and the horizontal separation was 379 feet. Excerpted below is an article in today's Boston Globe on this incident. The Globe published a link to the computer simulation which has probably led to high demand on the NTSB servers as the simulation is currently very slow to load.
http://www.ntsb.gov/Recs/mostwanted/index.htm
The vertical separation was 106 feet and the horizontal separation was 379 feet. Excerpted below is an article in today's Boston Globe on this incident. The Globe published a link to the computer simulation which has probably led to high demand on the NTSB servers as the simulation is currently very slow to load.
WASHINGTON -- The National Transportation Safety Board, citing a near-collision of two passenger jets at Logan International Airport in June, upbraided federal aviation officials yesterday, saying it is unacceptable that pilots still don't get direct warnings about impending collisions from ground radar systems.
The eight to 11 seconds it takes for air traffic controllers to get the warning from radar and relay it to pilots could be the difference between a close call and a disaster, safety board members said.
......
Yesterday, the Federal Aviation Administration announced that on Friday Logan became the first of 21 airports in the nation to get a software patch designed to fix a glitch in ground radar systems that prevents the systems from detecting planes approaching each other on intersecting runways.
In at least three incidents in the past year, including the June 9 near-collision, Logan's warning system did not give an alert because of the software error.
A new computer animation confirms that the US Airways and Aer Lingus planes, carrying 381 passengers and crew, came within 106 feet vertically and 379 feet horizontally of crashing into each other, officials of the National Transportation Safety Board said. The pilots of the US Airways jet, Captain Henry Jones and First Officer James L. Dannahower, received a safety award last month from a regional FAA office for keeping their plane on the ground during takeoff and avoiding a potential catastrophe.
The software upgrade that Logan received Friday will be temporary until Logan and 13 other airports nationwide get a new, more sophisticated ground radar system that works better at night and in bad weather. FAA officials have not said when Logan would receive that system, which costs $8.5 million, but the agency has set a nationwide deadline to have the systems installed by 2011.
............
Logan, the nation's 17th-busiest airport with 1,250 daily arrivals and departures, had no officially reported runway incidents between Oct. 1, 2003, and Sept. 30, 2004. Since then, Logan has tallied 16 incidents, more than double the total for the previous three-year period and the largest number of runway incursions at a single airport nationwide.
The FAA sent a team to Logan in October to try to determine the cause of the increase. A final report on that investigation could be released later this month, FAA officials said. Nationwide, the number of runway incursions dropped from 327 between Oct. 1, 2003, and Sept. 30, 2004, to 324 between Oct. 1, 2004 and Sept. 30.
The eight to 11 seconds it takes for air traffic controllers to get the warning from radar and relay it to pilots could be the difference between a close call and a disaster, safety board members said.
......
Yesterday, the Federal Aviation Administration announced that on Friday Logan became the first of 21 airports in the nation to get a software patch designed to fix a glitch in ground radar systems that prevents the systems from detecting planes approaching each other on intersecting runways.
In at least three incidents in the past year, including the June 9 near-collision, Logan's warning system did not give an alert because of the software error.
A new computer animation confirms that the US Airways and Aer Lingus planes, carrying 381 passengers and crew, came within 106 feet vertically and 379 feet horizontally of crashing into each other, officials of the National Transportation Safety Board said. The pilots of the US Airways jet, Captain Henry Jones and First Officer James L. Dannahower, received a safety award last month from a regional FAA office for keeping their plane on the ground during takeoff and avoiding a potential catastrophe.
The software upgrade that Logan received Friday will be temporary until Logan and 13 other airports nationwide get a new, more sophisticated ground radar system that works better at night and in bad weather. FAA officials have not said when Logan would receive that system, which costs $8.5 million, but the agency has set a nationwide deadline to have the systems installed by 2011.
............
Logan, the nation's 17th-busiest airport with 1,250 daily arrivals and departures, had no officially reported runway incidents between Oct. 1, 2003, and Sept. 30, 2004. Since then, Logan has tallied 16 incidents, more than double the total for the previous three-year period and the largest number of runway incursions at a single airport nationwide.
The FAA sent a team to Logan in October to try to determine the cause of the increase. A final report on that investigation could be released later this month, FAA officials said. Nationwide, the number of runway incursions dropped from 327 between Oct. 1, 2003, and Sept. 30, 2004, to 324 between Oct. 1, 2004 and Sept. 30.
Join Date: Feb 2001
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When vertical separations like this [" . . came within 106 feet vertically . "] are mentioned, is it from alt encoder in one to that that of the other, or from top of highest bit (fin?) of one to the lowest portion (Belly? Wheels? Tail when in climbing attitude?) of the other?
Similarly, are horizontal separations e.g. wingtip to wingtip?
Just wondering how they are so specific - and if the worst case is even closer than the quoted figure.
Chris N.
Similarly, are horizontal separations e.g. wingtip to wingtip?
Just wondering how they are so specific - and if the worst case is even closer than the quoted figure.
Chris N.
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hi chris i just looked at the video and it says wing to wing and gear of aer lingus and c of g of us air, it looked really worrying from the video.
I don't want to think what would have happened if one had a problem and had to reject takeoff because it may have ended up crashing into the other.
I don't want to think what would have happened if one had a problem and had to reject takeoff because it may have ended up crashing into the other.
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philip, exactly my thought when I watched it - a rejected takeoff by the Aer Lingus crew would almost certainly lead to a crash - a takeoff run started 3-4 sec earlier by USAir could have been disaster, too
well at least one slice of cheese wasn't aligned on that day and I'd say it had written "luck" on it
well at least one slice of cheese wasn't aligned on that day and I'd say it had written "luck" on it
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As I recall, the US Air FO called the Cap to "keep it down" when he detected the other aircraft. By looking at the simulation he only was able to pick up the Air Lingus right after its rotation some 4 to 5 seconds before crossing the A330’s path. That’s an excellent display of spatial awareness.
GD&L
GD&L
