FAA Calls Incident An "Operational Error"

The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating a runway incursion at San Francisco International Airport two weeks ago, in which two Embraer regional aircraft may have come within 50 feet of each other on intersecting runways.

On May 26, about 1:30 pm, a controller cleared SkyWest Airlines flight 5741, an Embraer 120 Brasilia turboprop (type shown above), to land on runway 28R. Apparently forgetting about the arriving airplane, the same controller then cleared Republic Airlines flight 4912, an Embraer 170, to take off from runway 1L, which intersects runway 28R, according to the NTSB.

After the SkyWest airliner touched down, the Airport Movement Area Safety System (AMASS) sounded in the tower, and the controller told the SkyWest flight crew to "Hold, Hold, Hold" in an attempt to stop the aircraft short of runway 1L. The SkyWest crew applied maximum braking -- that resulted in the airplane stopping in the middle of runway 1L. 

Realizing the aircraft was traveling too fast to stop, the captain of Republic Airlines flight 4912 took control of the aircraft from the first officer, and initiated an immediate takeoff.

According to the crew of SkyWest 5741, the Republic Airlines aircraft (type shown below) overflew theirs by 30 to 50 feet. "The initial FAA tower report estimated the aircraft missed colliding by 300 feet," the NTSB report states.

Following the incident, the controller involved -- certified as an SFO controller since 1999 -- was decertified and required to complete additional training. The controller has since been recertified by SFO management.

The Federal Aviation Administration has categorized the incident as an operational error.

FMI: Read The Preliminary Report