One Injured When Planes Impact At Taxiway Intersection

An air freight company is blaming controllers at Milwaukee's General Mitchell International Airport for a Wednesday night ground collision involving two of its aircraft.

Robert Sevier, GM of regional hauler Freight Runners Express, says "a blind spot" prevented the pilots of a company Cessna 402 (shown above) and Beech 99 (center) from seeing each other as both planes were directed by ground control to the intersection of three taxiways. The planes caught fire; one pilot was slightly injured, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

Conditions at the airport were described as clear by FAA spokeswoman Elizabeth Isham Cory -- meaning controllers were likely keeping an eye on ground traffic visually, instead of relying on a $14.5 million ground radar system to watch traffic.

Not that the system would have done any good, Cory added -- as that system only monitors runways for incursions, not taxiways.

FAA records state the accident occurred Wednesday night before 8 pm. Freight Runners flight 1539, a Cessna 402 inbound from Baraboo, WI, landed on the smaller of MKE's two east-west runways, 7L/25R. The company says pilot James Kremsreiter was directed around the terminal.

About the same time, Freight Runners flight 1509 landed on the main east-west runway, arriving from Stephens Point. Pilot Charley Stephenson turned off the runway; shortly thereafter, the Beech 99 collided with the smaller Cessna at the intersection of three taxiways.

"Both aircraft were operating in controlled areas under explicit instructions of air traffic control," a Freight Runners statement said. "One aircraft was given instructions by (the tower) to exit a high-speed taxiway, and the other aircraft was issued unrestricted clearance by (ground control) to move on an adjoining taxiway.

"The aircraft collided where the taxiways intersected. Neither pilot was notified by (air traffic control) of the impending conflict at the intersection, which would have prevented this accident."

The FAA is currently investigating the incident -- the second in a week at the Wisconsin airport. As Aero-News reported Monday, a Northwest DC-9 ran off the end of a runway at the airport following an aborted takeoff last Sunday.

The NTSB has not formally decided to launch its own investigation into the incident.

IDENTIFICATION
  Regis#: 7886Q        Make/Model: C402      Description: 401, 402, Utililiner, Businessliner
  Date: 01/25/2007     Time: 0200

  Event Type: Accident   Highest Injury: None     Mid Air: N    Missing: N
  Damage: Substantial

LOCATION
  City: MILWAUKEE   State: WI   Country: US

DESCRIPTION
  N7886Q, A FREIGHT RUNNERS EXPRESS FRG1539 CESSNA C402, WHILE TAXIING
  COLLIDED IN THE TAXIWAY INTERSECTION WITH ANOTHER ACFT, N699CZ, A FREIGHT
  RUNNERS EXPRESS FRG1509, A BEECH BE99A, THERE WAS ONE PERSON ON BOARD EACH
  ACFT, MINOR INJURIES REPORTED TO ONE PERSON ON N699CZ, DAMAGE TO BOTH ARCFT
  REPORTED AS SUBSTANTIAL, MILWAUKEE, WI

INJURY DATA      Total Fatal:   0
                 # Crew:   1     Fat:   0     Ser:   0     Min:   0     Unk:   
                 # Pass:   0     Fat:   0     Ser:   0     Min:   0     Unk:   
                 # Grnd:         Fat:   0     Ser:   0     Min:   0     Unk:   

WEATHER: MKE METAR 0152Z 29007KT 7SM OVC031 M04/M09 A3010

OTHER DATA
  Activity: Business      Phase: Taxi      Operation: OTHER

  Departed:                             Dep Date:    Dep. Time:     
  Destination: MILWAUKEE, WI            Flt Plan: IFR          Wx Briefing: 
  Last Radio Cont: 
  Last Clearance: 

  FAA FSDO: MILWAUKEE, WI  (GL13)                 Entry date: 01/25/2007

FMI: www.faa.gov, www.freightrunners.com