The Cirrus pilot read back the instruction, at which point the trainee asked where she would be parking.Ĭirrus N4252G: We’ll be parking at MillionAir. It was clearly busy but nothing out of the ordinary for Houston Hobby airport. This made Southwest Airlines flight 235, who called in next, number three to land. You’re number 2 following a 737 on a 3 mile final, caution wake turbulence. Trainee Controller: Cirrus 4252G, Hobby Tower. Once the instructor pointed out the confusion, the trainee called back to clarify. The trainee misunderstood the pilot’s initial contact and thought that the call came from an inbound 737, Southwest Airlines flight 235, which he cleared to land. The Cirrus SR20 pilot identified herself as N4252G and inbound to land. If the Tower controller detects any unsafe conditions, they may instruct a landing aircraft to go around and then be re-sequenced, which could mean transferring the aircraft back to Approach to circle around and start again. Tower control works with Approach and with Ground in order to maximise traffic flow and ensure spacing between inbound and outbound aircraft. “Tower” or “local control” is the air traffic control station responsible for active runway surfaces: they clear aircraft for take-off and landing, ensuring that separation is maintained at all times. At that time, the station was manned by a trainee with an instructor. He continued to monitor their spacing.Īt 12:52, the pilot contacted Houston Hobby Tower. He then asked the Boeing 737 to reduce its speed and then also to change frequency to Tower. The approach controller instructed the pilot to fly a heading of 095° in order to shorten the approach and then asked her to change frequency to Houston Hobby Tower.
The pilot confirmed that she had the other aircraft in sight. Aircraft are put into categories determined by their gross weight (although technically the best classification system would be wingspan) with minimum wake-turbulence separation distances established based on the categories of the leading and the following aircraft. The strength of the wake turbulence is governed by the weight, speed and wingspan of the generating aircraft, in this case the Boeing 737. This is informational: the Boeing 737 is on approach and the Cirrus SR20 should make visual contact and be careful not to approach too closely, as the wake turbulence from the larger aircraft could be dangerous for the Cirrus. HOU Approach: You’re following a Boeing 737 about one o’clock and five miles…on a four mile final at 2,000. The flight received routine VFR handling and after descending to 1,800 feet, the approach controller told the flight to expect a left base to the traffic pattern for runway 4. She contacted Houston Approach with the current ATIS information and was told to descend to 5,000 feet and maintain VFR. On that day, the pilot and two passengers departed Oklahoma Westheimer airport at 10:11 local time and flew south to Houston. According to her log book, she had landed in Class B airspace four times, most recently with a landing and take-off at Dallas Love Field in Texas the week before. This was probably her first trip to Houston Hobby Airport, a high traffic airport and a hub for Southwest Airlines.
.jpg "houston hobby airport runway lights")
As HOU is just seven miles from downtown Houston, it was the closest airport for them to visit a family member who was undergoing cancer treatment at a local hospital. She had two passengers on board, her husband and her brother-in-law. Hobby Airport (HOU), Houston’s oldest commercial airport. She planned the flight to Houston’s William P. The FAA requires a flight review every 24 months and hers was a month over due, however everything else was in order. The pilot had completed her PPL just over two years before, in 2014. This is based on the NTSB Report CEN16FA211 and the ATC group report in the NTSB docket, both of which are available on the on the NTSB website. I recommend the video but of course I wanted to get in deeper and try to understand better what happened.
#Houston hobby airport runway lights series#
I first heard of this accident as a result of the AOPA Air Safety Institute’s video series although it happened a few years ago. Hobby airport, killing the pilot and two passengers.
#Houston hobby airport runway lights registration#
On the 9th of June 2016, a Cirrus SR20, registration N4252G crashed during a go-around at William P.
0 kommentar(er)
