Military Plane Fails To Heed 'Hold Short' Directive
An errant C-130 came a little too close for comfort to a go!
Airlines CRJ-200 passenger jet taking off from Honolulu
International Airport Thursday. It is the second runway incursion
at HNL in less than six months.
"I've seen other incidents throughout my career but this was by
far the closest," air traffic controller Thom Gurule said. "I hate
the term 'near miss.' This was a 'near hit.' I don't want to see
anything any closer."
The C-130 had just landed on Runway 4 Right, according to air
traffic controller Scott Sorenson, and nosed toward the path of a
go! CRJ-200 taking off on Runway 8 Left.
FAA regional spokesman Ian Gregor said the C-130 crossed the
"hold bars" and was only 110 feet from the runway edge "but didn't
intrude onto the runway itself."
The C-130 pilot was based out of Japan, Gurule said.
Gurule instructed the C-130 pilot -- twice -- to "exit at
Taxiway Echo, turn left, cross Runway 4 Left, then turn left on
Taxiway Bravo, which runs parallel to Taxiway 8 Left," Gregor said.
"But the C-130 pilot didn't make the left turn on Taxiway B. He
kept going straight on, heading straight toward Runway 8, where the
regional jet was on its take-off."
Gurule looked up and saw the C-130 had not turned onto Taxiway B
as instructed, but was now on the roll directly in the path of the
oncoming go! Jet -- which he had just given permission to take
off.
The C-130 pilot "was definitely in a very dangerous place to
be," said Gurule as the go! pilot was rapidly approaching "past the
point of no return."
Gurule said he just yelled at the C-130 pilot to "hold your
position"... and this time he did as instructed.
Sorenson said Gurule "didn't have two seconds or one second to
think. It was a split-second, gut reaction to yell out to stop the
pilot. Had he waited one or two seconds longer, we would definitely
be talking about a different set of circumstances."
After the go! Jet took off directly in front of the C-130;
Gurule said "There was a slight moment of silence. I asked Air
Shuttle 1018, 'Are you OK?' You could tell the pilot was absolutely
shaken up. His response was, 'It was a little crazy for a second
but we're OK.' Then he was concerned that maybe he did something
wrong. His question to me was, 'I was cleared for take-off, wasn't
I?'"
Gurule said he then directed the C-130 pilot to contact the
tower about a possible "pilot deviation" but has had no further
contact with him.
Hickam Air Force Base shares runways with the Honolulu airport
and neither they nor the FAA could confirm which branch of the
military the C-130 pilot flies for, according to the Advertiser.
Hickam spokeswoman Lt. Melanie McLean said the C-130 involved is
not based at Hickam and the base's Safety Office is
investigating.
According to McLean, the Safety Office "thought it was minor in
nature. They said the aircraft and the pilots were in no
danger."
Gregor said the FAA ranks runway incursions from "A", a crash or
near collision, to "D," a technical violation. The last incident in
Honolulu in December 2006 was rated a "D."