Honolulu Near Hit

 You know me. I simply don’t understand why the press has such difficulty with the facts when it comes to aviation. Granted, the press may well have difficulty with the facts in every human undertaking, but my expertise is in aviation, hence this lashing-out…

First let’s dispense with the news: Thom Gurule, a controller at Honolulu Tower (PHNL) saved the day last Thursday when a C130 (allegedly based in Japan) and a CRJ tried to come together on his airport and he simply wasn’t having it. According to Aero-News.Net (in a copyrighted story), it went down like this…

The C-130 had just landed on Runway 4 Right, according to air traffic controller Scott Sorenson, and nosed toward the path of a go! CRJ-200 taking off on Runway 8 Left. FAA regional spokesman Ian Gregor said the C-130 crossed the “hold bars” and was only 110 feet from the runway edge “but didn’t intrude onto the runway itself.” Gurule instructed the C-130 pilot — twice — to “exit at Taxiway Echo, turn left, cross Runway 4 Left, then turn left on Taxiway Bravo, which runs parallel to Taxiway 8 Left,” [See our diagram] Gregor said. “But the C-130 pilot didn’t make the left turn on Taxiway B. He kept going straight on, heading straight toward Runway 8, where the regional jet was on its take-off.” Gurule looked up and saw the C-130 had not turned onto Taxiway B as instructed, but was now on the roll directly in the path of the oncoming go! Jet — which he had just given permission to take off. The C-130 pilot “was definitely in a very dangerous place to be,” said Gurule as the go! pilot was rapidly approaching “past the point of no return.” Gurule said he just yelled at the C-130 pilot to “hold your position”… and this time he did as instructed.

Here’s the referred-to diagram (the blue lines show what the C130 was instructed to do, the red lines show what the C130 did, and the green line shows the route of the departing CRJ. Oh yeah, the purple dot is the control tower):

To continue with the http://www.aero-news.net copyrighted story, “…after the go! Jet took off directly in front of the C-130; Gurule said “There was a slight moment of silence. I asked Air Shuttle 1018, ‘Are you OK?’ You could tell the pilot was absolutely shaken up. His response was, ‘It was a little crazy for a second but we’re OK.’ Then he was concerned that maybe he did something wrong. His question to me was, ‘I was cleared for take-off, wasn’t I?’”

Yup. You were, indeed, cleared for takeoff my friend.

According to the story, one Lt. Melanie McLean, a Hickam AFB spokesperson (Note: Hickam shares the airport with Honolulu International) noted that…“it was minor in nature. …the aircraft and the pilots were in no danger.” Me, I’ve got to wonder what Lt. McLean does consider dangerous…

Oh yeah! The rant part!

OK. It’s a minor thing, but still, I’d expect more. Here’s what KITV, “The Hawaii Channel (thehawaiichannel.com) reported:

Quick thinking by an air traffic controller prevented a disaster at Honolulu International Airport over the weekend when a military jet accidentally taxied into the path of a passenger jet that was taking off, officials said.

It wasn’t a military jet, and it didn’t taxi into the path of a passenger jet. Just that simple. A C130 is a turboprop. Yup, there’s a jet in there, but the aircraft isn’t a jet in anybody’s estimation. What’s more, the article uses the term “air controllers, “ which is anathema to those of us in the biz. We don’t control air. We control air traffic.

Now explain something about which I know nothing.

Good job Thom. I’m proud to be part of your fraternity.

–Dave