close call for go! in Hawaii

[ShyFlyGuy]

Geez, that was a close call. I wonder how many of the pax were aware of just how close they came to having their names appear in the newspaper today? I can relate to what would’ve likely flashed through the mind of the controller in that instant. Although I was never actually in ATC I used to do Unicom in a decommissioned tower at a fairly busy uncontrolled GA airport; that averaged about 300,000 movements per year. One busy afternoon I witnessed an incident that was similar in circumstance to the one that occurred today in HNL…a Cessna was on the roll after a touch and go when a Trinidad, that was taxiing, decided to cross the active runway at mid intersection and right in front of the other a/c that was rolling for takeoff. Just prior to this my attention was diverted inside the cab, as I was recording the movement of the rolling aircraft, on its strip. While I was doing that I heard the taxiing Trinidad announce that he was going to cross the active. Knowing that there was an aircraft on a touch and go I immediately looked up, and seeing what was about to occur I blurted out an advisory to the a/c crossing, “JCC hold, aircraft rolling on the runway!” The guy in Trinidad yanked on his brakes so hard I thought he was going to strike his prop. I watched as his aircraft rocked back and forth, still partially on the runway, as the Cessna whizzed past and got airborne only meters away. The pilot of the Trinidad, in a very grateful voice, thanked me for the heads up; I wonder if it occurred to the Herc driver to do the same?

You man a "tower" at an uncontrolled field? Do you fly an RC airplane as well? I mean this in the nicest way possible... but I think you might be gay.

 

[RJP]

Are you kidding me?

Had a civilian done this, he'd be crucified. I'd say considering how close they came to killing ~50 people, a little more than a slap on the wrist may be in order. You know, like some remedial education on looking before you cross the street, eh?

Oddly, that's how it works. F*ck up in the military and you change your callsign. No civilian controller ever knows who the pilot was.

Besides, everyone knows that go! is only 60% full, so it wouldn't have been a full 50 pax anyway. And the Herc never really incurred on the runway, they just had to be yelled at to stop.

Either way you look at it, no one got hurt. Get over it.

 

[igneousy2]

Probably, right after they got done changing their shorts!

Maybe the Air Force can give the Mesa guys an honorary call sign...

Maybe they can call them "puddles"

Later

 

[Stifler's Mom]

...averaged about 300,000 movements per year...

You should probably see a doctor about that....that's an awful lot of ********************.

 

[Soverytired]

Are you kidding me?

Had a civilian done this, he'd be crucified. I'd say considering how close they came to killing ~50 people, a little more than a slap on the wrist may be in order. You know, like some remedial education on looking before you cross the street, eh?

Yep, no doubt about it, a civilian would probably get his license taken away, and I for one wouldn't shed a tear.

I gotta say though, the fact that military guys are VOLUNTEERING to go to war and get shot at gives them a great deal of leeway when it comes to (non-fatal) mistakes.

This is the same reason I don't get too upset when the ex-military pilots get all the good government flying jobs and huge preference points at many airlines. They volunteered years . . . decades in most cases. . . of their lives to protecting my sorry butt from some very, very nasty people. They deserve some extra breaks.

IMHO.

 

[Uncle Bunkle]

Oh...Mesa sucks....carry on...

 

[pacific 77]

You man a "tower" at an uncontrolled field? Do you fly an RC airplane as well? I mean this in the nicest way possible... but I think you might be gay.

So I was drinking that night.

Note to self: do not post of FI while consuming alcohol.

You man a "tower" at an uncontrolled field?

No, I never said I manned a “tower.” But, I do think there should’ve still been one at that airport given the number of annual aircraft movements it had. However, the tower closed down because of the proposed implementation of exorbitant ATC user fees. The reason I worked as a (part-time) Unicom operator was because of financial necessity. It was a second job while I was a flight instructor at that airport.

Do you fly an RC airplane as well?

No, I don’t fly an RC airplane. Never have done.

I mean this in the nicest way possible... but I think you might be gay.

Nice try, but I'm 100% straight. But I am foreign.

FYI. Before you go casting your negative judgment about others inclinations on this forum, especially when they are discussing what they have done to contribute to air-safety, I suggest that you go take a big chomp on a STFU sandwich.

 

[viper548]

I gotta say though, the fact that military guys are VOLUNTEERING to go to war and get shot at gives them a great deal of leeway when it comes to (non-fatal) mistakes.

IMHO.

The war in Hawaii ended over 60 years ago. I'd be the first to give them a pass if this happened in the middle east.

 

[Soverytired]

The war in Hawaii ended over 60 years ago. I'd be the first to give them a pass if this happened in the middle east.

If they're in the military, I guarantee you they're been deployed to the Middle East in the past 4 years. And probably more than once.

 

[viper548]

If they're in the military, I guarantee you they're been deployed to the Middle East in the past 4 years. And probably more than once.

I'm in the reserves and have been there too. I just don't think they should get a pass on a major safety violation just because they've been to Iraq.