ATC, Airport Officials Asked About Opening Main Runway Before Cargo Plane Went Down

Airport officials are heard on audio recording posted on the FAA website asking about re-opening the main runway at Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport shortly before a UPS A300 cargo plane went down last August. The accident resulted in the fatal injury of the two pilots on board.

In the recording, an air traffic controller asks a Birmingham Airport Authority worker about the possibility of re-opening the main runway which was closed for maintenance, about two minutes before the plane was due to land. The 7,000-foot alternate runway on which the pilot was attempting to land does not have the same ILS equipment as does the 12,000-foot main runway.

The Associated Press reports that the recording shows a FedEx jet landed safely on the main runway shortly after the UPS plane went down.

The main runway had been closed for maintenance to its lighting system and was scheduled to re-open a few minutes after the accident occurred. The approach to the alternate runway is considered to be more challenging because it utilizes a localizer approach rather than a full ILS system, and because of the hill at the end of the runway which the UPS jet ultimately impacted.

The pilots on board the UPS aircraft are heard agreeing to the approach to the alternate runway. About two minutes later, the plane impacted the hill at the runway's end. The pilot of the FedEx airplane is heard saying he had reduced his speed, and landed on the main runway moments after it was officially re-opened at 0500 local time.

(NTSB Image)

FMI: www.faa.gov