Tue, Apr 18, 2006
Delays One Takeoff, One Landing... As Plane Was On
Approach
Did someone in the
Seattle-Tacoma International Airport control tower take an
especially long bathroom break last week? That may have been the
case, as the Associated Press reports that for 25 minutes in the
early morning hours of April 11, the tower was incommunicado to
planes in the area.
"There were two planes affected -- one trying to take off and
one trying to come in," airport spokesman Bob Parker said
Monday.
Airport officials and the FAA told Seattle television station
KING-5 that a Taiwanese EVA 747-400 was on final approach to
Sea-Tac around 3:15 am when it radioed the tower for landing
clearance. When no one answered, the plane went around -- and
remained airborne until a controller could be reached.
At the same time, a Delta Air Lines jet that called ground for
clearance to back away from the gate at the airport's south
satellite terminal was also unable to reach anyone.
The as-yet-unexplained silence came to an end when a Port of
Seattle worker drove to the guard shack at the base of the control
tower. The guard was then able to contact the proper authorities,
who rushed over to man the tower.
Traditionally, only one controller is on duty at the Sea-Tac
tower during the overnight hours, as traffic is light enough to
allow one controller to handle both ground and tower duties. In the
wake of last week's incident, however, airport officials say two
controllers will now staff the tower overnight -- just in case.
"We think this is indeed an aberration that is still under
investigation," said airport operations director Mike Ehl.
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