1999 T. F. Green Airport runway incursion

The 1999 T. F. Green Airport runway incursion occurred on December 6, 1999 at approximately 20:35 Eastern Daylight Time. The runway incursion involved two flights, a United Airlines flight 1448 (a Boeing 757) and FedEx flight 1662 (a Boeing 727) on Runway 5R/23L at T. F. Green Airport, in Warwick, Rhode Island.
The incident
Shortly after landing on Runway 5R/23L, Flight 1448 was instructed to taxi to the gate. Due to the low-visibility conditions that night, the pilots became disoriented and turned down the wrong taxiway, which led them back towards the same runway. Flight 1448 then confirmed with the air traffic controller that they should cross the runway in front of them, and continued moving towards Runway 5R/23L. The controller, not realising their mistake, confirmed this crossing, then cleared another plane for takeoff.
Flight 1448 then reported that they were near taxiway Kilo, and as they re-entered Runway 5R/23L, said, "Somebody just took-off" (right overhead). However, the controller appeared not to take their sighting of Kilo seriously, saying, "you shouldn't be anywhere near Kilo", and advised the 1448 crew to hold position. The Flight 1448 crew then informed air traffic control they were now on an active runway, which they mistakenly believed to be 23R (inactive at the time). A moment later the pilot corrected himself, stating that they were on 5R/23L. Flight 1448's crew were told again to stand by, so the plane remained idle at the intersection, while the controller cleared MetroJet flight 2998 for takeoff on the same runway. The 1448 pilot interjected to insist that the plane was on the active runway, which the controller denied, telling them it was not an active runway. The controller again told Flight 2998 to take off, but its crew, having listened to the exchange, realised there was confusion over the whereabouts of the United plane. They refused to take-off until Flight 1448 had made it safely to the gate.
Aftermath
The US Airways crew operating Flight 2998 were honored for their actions of avoiding a near-disaster. An investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board followed and while no fault was assigned to the controller, she was required to undergo retraining before returning to service. The pilots were debriefed by United, received additional training and were returned to service. The NTSB generated a recreation of the events of that night.

Main Menu

See Also

Main Menu