Ed_Wischmeyer
Well Known Member
So here’s a real gotcha, could happen to any of us at a towered airport. I happened to see this one happen, as I had just landed and taxied clear of the runway involved and was still on tower frequency…
A student pilot on first solo was ready to take off on Runway 1. Downfield is the crossing runway, 10/28.
Student: Cessna XXX, ready for takeoff
Tower: Roger
Student: Cleared for takeoff, Cessna XXX
Another aircraft: Hey, tower, that Cessna just took off without a clearance!
Contributing factors to this event:
* Student mis-understood what tower meant by “Roger,” and more on that below
* Controller did not catch that the student’s readback was incorrect – this is called a “hearback” error.
* Tower procedures: when a plane calls in ready for takeoff, controllers here sometimes say “hold short,” sometimes they say “roger.”
At a Runway Safety Action Team meeting on Thursday, we found out about the tower procedures and a lot of us were surprised. When the tower says “hold short,” they have to wait for the pilot to acknowledge. When the frequency is busy and they don’t have time to wait for a pilot’s acknowledgement, they simply say, “Roger.”
Just to make it interesting, sometimes I’ll call in “holding short” and tower will tell me to hold short, and that means I have to repeat the hold short instruction.
Lots of contributing factors on this event, and we’ll forego discussing “who was at fault.” That’s not the point.
The good news is that there was no loss of separation, and that everybody is working together to make sure this doesn’t happen again. Hence this posting.
And quite by accident, at last month’s VMC/IMC Club meeting, present were the student pilot, his instructor, the tower controller on duty, and me.
Admin, please don’t move this post. It could save somebody’s certificate or even a bunch of lives.
A student pilot on first solo was ready to take off on Runway 1. Downfield is the crossing runway, 10/28.
Student: Cessna XXX, ready for takeoff
Tower: Roger
Student: Cleared for takeoff, Cessna XXX
Another aircraft: Hey, tower, that Cessna just took off without a clearance!
Contributing factors to this event:
* Student mis-understood what tower meant by “Roger,” and more on that below
* Controller did not catch that the student’s readback was incorrect – this is called a “hearback” error.
* Tower procedures: when a plane calls in ready for takeoff, controllers here sometimes say “hold short,” sometimes they say “roger.”
At a Runway Safety Action Team meeting on Thursday, we found out about the tower procedures and a lot of us were surprised. When the tower says “hold short,” they have to wait for the pilot to acknowledge. When the frequency is busy and they don’t have time to wait for a pilot’s acknowledgement, they simply say, “Roger.”
Just to make it interesting, sometimes I’ll call in “holding short” and tower will tell me to hold short, and that means I have to repeat the hold short instruction.
Lots of contributing factors on this event, and we’ll forego discussing “who was at fault.” That’s not the point.
The good news is that there was no loss of separation, and that everybody is working together to make sure this doesn’t happen again. Hence this posting.
And quite by accident, at last month’s VMC/IMC Club meeting, present were the student pilot, his instructor, the tower controller on duty, and me.
Admin, please don’t move this post. It could save somebody’s certificate or even a bunch of lives.
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