2007 San Francisco International Airport runway incursion

Aircraft incident in Northern California in 2007

2007 San Francisco International Airport runway incursion
Republic Airways Flight 4912 · SkyWest Airlines Flight 5741
Incident
Date	May 26, 2007 (2007-05-26)
Summary	Runway incursion due to ATC error
Site	San Francisco International Airport, California, United States 37°37′15″N 122°22′28″W / 37.62072°N 122.37452°W / 37.62072; -122.37452
Total fatalities	0
Total injuries	0
Total survivors	27
First aircraft
The Embraer 170 involved in the incursion
Type	Embraer 170 Regional Jet
Operator	Republic Airways (o/a Frontier Airlines)
IATA flight No.	YX4912
ICAO flight No.	RPA4912
Call sign	BRICKYARD 4912
Registration	N872RW
Flight origin	San Francisco International Airport, San Mateo County, California, United States
Occupants	15
Passengers	11
Crew	4
Fatalities	0
Injuries	0
Survivors	15
Second aircraft
The Embraer EMB 120 Brasilia involved in the incursion
Type	Embraer EMB 120 Brasilia
Operator	SkyWest Airlines (o/a United Express)
ICAO flight No.	SKW5741
Call sign	SKYWEST 5741
Registration	N232SW
Flight origin	Unknown
Destination	San Francisco International Airport, San Mateo County, California, United States
Occupants	12
Passengers	9
Crew	3
Fatalities	0
Injuries	0
Survivors	12

The 2007 San Francisco International Airport runway incursion occurred around 1:36 p.m. PDT on May 26, 2007, when SkyWest Airlines Flight 5741, an Embraer EMB 120 Brasilia turboprop aircraft, nearly collided with Republic Airways Flight 4912, an Embraer 170 Regional Jet, at the intersection of Runways 1L and 28R at San Francisco International Airport (SFO).

There were no injuries to occupants and no damage to either aircraft. Federal Aviation Administration officials described the runway incursion as the most serious incident of its kind in at least a decade, and the National Transportation Safety Board carried out an investigation into the incident.

Aircraft

The first aircraft involved was an Embraer ERJ 170-100SU, registered as N872RW, MSN 17000143, that was manufactured in 2006. It was equipped with two General Electric CF34-8E5 engines.

The second aircraft involved was an Embraer EMB-120ER Brasilia, registered as N232SW, MSN 120306.

Incident

The SkyWest aircraft was arriving at SFO after a flight from Modesto, California, and was cleared to land on Runway 28R. At the same time, the Republic Airways aircraft, bound for Los Angeles, was instructed to taxi into position and hold on the intersecting Runway 1L. As the landing SkyWest aircraft passed the runway threshold, the Republic Airways aircraft was cleared for takeoff. Local procedures and FAA Order 7110.65 require the local controller to wait until the landing aircraft has passed through the intersection before clearing an aircraft for takeoff on one of the intersecting runways.

Approximately 27 seconds later the Airport Movement Area Safety System issued an aural warning of an imminent collision, and the local controller instructed the SkyWest aircraft to stop, transmitting, "uh, sky-, skywest uhh fifty seven forty one HOLD HOLD HOLD." The SkyWest aircraft stopped in the intersection of Runways 1L and 28R, while the Republic Airways flight lifted off and overflew it. The initial FAA tower report estimated that the aircraft missed colliding by 300 feet (91 m), but the SkyWest crew estimated the distance as 30 to 50 feet (9.1 to 15.2 m).

Investigation

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) classified the incident as a Category A runway incursion, the most serious type. Category A events are those in which "eparation decreases and participants take extreme action to narrowly avoid a collision, or the event results in a collision." Of the previous 15 runway incursions at SFO between 2001 and 2007, none had been more serious than Category C, which is defined as a situation in which "eparation decreases but there is ample time and distance to avoid a potential collision."

Commenting on the seriousness of the incident, National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) spokesman Ted Lopatkiewicz noted that "We investigate probably just a handful (of incursions) a year." The NTSB's investigation was completed in November 2007, concluding that the controller had failed to provide adequate separation between the two aircraft. FAA spokesman Ian Gregor said, "This wasn't a procedural issue, this was caused by a good controller with a lot of experience making a mistake," adding that since the incursion the controller, who had over 20 years of experience, was recertified.

SFO and AMASS

Main article: Airport Movement Area Safety System

Runway safety and prevention of runway incursions has been a priority concern for both the FAA and NTSB; it has been on the NTSB's annual list of "Most Wanted Improvements" continuously since 1990.

The Airport Movement Area Safety System (AMASS) is an airport surveillance radar system that is designed to detect potential runway conflicts and alert controllers. SFO was selected by the FAA for the first test installation of the AMASS system, where it became operational in June 2001 before its rollout to 40 airports around the U.S. AMASS is designed to provide an alert 15 seconds before aircraft reach the conflict point. The system performed as designed in the incident at SFO, though it did not alert in time to prevent the runway incursion. The NTSB believes that AMASS is insufficient to prevent runway incursions.

References

Lee, Henry K. (June 11, 2007). "Turboprop narrowly misses hitting jet at SFO". San Francisco Chronicle. Hearst Communications Inc. Archived from the original on June 13, 2007. Retrieved July 14, 2007. Two passenger planes almost collided, missing each other by only 50 feet, at San Francisco International Airport because of a controller's mistake two weeks ago, federal investigators said today.
^ "National Transportation Safety Board Aviation Incident Final Report: incident number OPS07IA004A". National Transportation Safety Board. November 30, 2007. p. 6. Retrieved August 7, 2018.
^ "NTSB Identification: OPS07IA004A". US National Transportation Safety Board. Archived from the original on June 22, 2007. Retrieved July 14, 2007. On May 26, 2007, at 1336 Pacific daylight time, Republic Airlines flight 4912 (RPA4912), an Embraer 170 regional jet, and Skywest Airlines flight 5741 (SKW5741), an Embraer Brasilia turboprop, nearly collided in the intersection of runway 1L and runway 28R at San Francisco International Airport, San Francisco, California. Both aircraft were operating as scheduled passenger flights under 14 CFR part 121 and were operating on instrument flight plans. There were no reported injuries to occupants and no reported damage to either aircraft.
^ Abramson, Mark (June 30, 2007). "FAA: Runway near miss at SFO was serious". Palo Alto Daily News. Daily News Group. Archived from the original on July 3, 2007. Retrieved July 14, 2007. Federal Aviation Administration officials are calling a near-collision at San Francisco International Airport the most serious incident of its kind at the airport in at least a decade.
LARAnews.net Editorial Team (June 11, 2007). "NTSB Investigating runway incursion at San Francisco". LARAnews.net. Retrieved July 13, 2007. The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating a runway incursion in San Francisco two weeks ago.
"NTSB Advisory". National Transportation Safety Board. June 11, 2007. Archived from the original on June 22, 2007. Retrieved July 14, 2007. The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating a runway incursion in San Francisco two weeks ago in which two airliners may have come within 50 feet of each other on intersecting runways.
"N-Number Inquiry Results - FAA: Aircraft Registration". Retrieved July 12, 2024.
"Serious incident Embraer ERJ-170SE N872RW, Saturday 26 May". Retrieved July 12, 2024.
"Aircraft Photo of N232SW | Embraer EMB-120ER Brasilia | SkyWest Airlines | AirHistory.net #55902". AirHistory.net. Retrieved July 13, 2024.
^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on December 8, 2006. Retrieved July 13, 2007.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
Inside Bay Area – Serious runway incursions rare in area Archived September 29, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
Abramson, Mark (June 24, 2007). "Adrenaline keeps air traffic controllers flying high on the job". Palo Alto Daily News. Daily News Group. Archived from the original on July 3, 2007. Retrieved July 14, 2007. In the wake of a near-miss at San Francisco International Airport last month due to an error by an air traffic controller with two decades of experience, several local controllers shared their experiences in the field with the Daily News.
FAA – Office of Runway Safety – Runway Safety Home Archived July 13, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
runway incursion
"Archived copy". Archived from the original on June 30, 2007. Retrieved July 13, 2007.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee : Press Release :: Aviation Subcommittee Holds Hearing on NTSB Safety Priorities Archived June 29, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
"NTSB – Symposia". Runway Incursion Forum: Promoting Runway Safety. US National Transportation Safety Board. Retrieved July 14, 2007.
"Most Wanted List Archive". www.ntsb.gov. Retrieved April 2, 2021.
^ "FAA's runway safety system off track". CNN. August 13, 1999. Archived from the original on May 29, 2010. Retrieved April 22, 2010.
Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, House of Representatives
"MOST WANTED TRANSPORTATION SAFETY IMPROVEMENTS: Federal Issues, AVIATION, Improve Runway Safety". National Transportation Safety Board. Retrieved February 8, 2016.
"NTSB: AMASS Not Good Enough To Prevent Runway Collisions | Aero-News Network". www.aero-news.net. Retrieved April 2, 2021.

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2006 ◄ ► 2008

Aviation accidents and incidents in 2007 (2007)