Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Detroit Wayne County Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Detroit, Michigan
Friday, December 4, 2009 10:21 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The Ground Control East (GCE) controller cleared Fire 2, an airport ground vehicle, to cross runway 21R at taxiway F in front of Pinnacle Airlines (FLG) flight 3720, a departing regional jet. According to crew statements, FLG3720 rotated normally and was about 150 feet above ground level when it passed the intersection of the runway and taxiway F. There was no damage to either the aircraft or the fire truck, and no reported injuries.
The Local Control East (LCE) controller cleared FLG3720 into position to hold on runway 21R at 1019:33, and was cleared for takeoff about a minute later. At 1020:29, Fire 2 contacted the GCE controller with a request, but the GCE controller could not understand the transmission and asked Fire 2 to repeat his request. Fire 2 responded, "I’m at Station 100 like [taxiway] Fox[trot] over to the [runway] 3L deice pad." The GCE controller replied, "Approved as requested." At 1021:35, Fire 2 reported clear of runway 3L. At 1021:43, GCE transmitted, "…you said the [runway] 22R deice pad." Fire 2 replied, "No, I said the [runway] 3L, sir."
DTW airport was equipped with an ASDE-X ground movement radar system that provided aircraft and vehicle tracking capabilities as well as conflict detection. According to recorded data, the system detected a conflict between Fire 2 and FLG3720 at 1021:25, just before Fire 2 entered the runway. Fire 2 completed crossing the runway and exited at taxiway F at 1021:32. FLG3720 passed taxiway F at 1021:37.
The ground controller was still in training, and was still in the process of being certified on all control positions in the tower. The day before the incident, he had been certified on the two east ground control positions by a supervisor. His certification occurred on the evening shift and took about an hour. The ground controller acknowledged that during his training he had received various comments from his instructors about scanning the airport surface, but he stated that generally they were "hit and miss" issues and did not reflect consistent deficiencies.
The supervisor said that there were no unusual conditions to help explain what had occurred. There was no construction in progress, no weather affecting the airport, no rain, and no distractions. Some aircraft had controlled departure times that needed to be assigned. However, this did not affect the operation of the time.
Since the incursion, the instructor provided some advice to the ground controller about control techniques that might help prevent him from encountering a similar problem in the future, in particular, discontinuing use of the phraseology, "proceed as requested." Issuance of specific instructions to a pilot or vehicle operator may result in a correction or other feedback from the operator. However, the instructor further noted that requiring controllers to always read back the entire request from a vehicle operator or pilot may result in lengthy, but unnecessary exchanges on the radio.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The ground controller did not monitor the progress of the fire truck to ensure that the driver followed the expected route. A contributing factor was the ground controller's misunderstanding of the fire truck driver's requested destination on the airport.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Incident |
| Event Date | 12/4/2009 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1021 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | Detroit |
| Event State | MICHIGAN |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | -- |
| Event Date Year | 2009 |
| Event Date Month | 12 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | -- |
| Event Location Longitude | -- |
| Event Location Airport | Detroit Wayne County |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | DTW |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 645 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 953 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | DTW |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 645 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 3000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Few |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | -1 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -7 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 240 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 17 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 21 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.12 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | METAR KDTW 041553Z 24017G21KT 10SM FEW030 M01/M07 |
| Event Highest Injury | None |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | 52 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 26992 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 4 2010 1:39PM |
| User who most recently changed record | johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | -- |
| NTSB Number | OPS10IA003 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | -- |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | None |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | -- |
| Aircraft Model | -- |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | -- |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | -- |
| Aircraft Category | -- |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | -- |
| Flight Crew Seats | 2 |
| Cabin Crew Seats | 2 |
| Passenger Seats | 50 |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | -- |
| Number of Engines | -- |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | -- |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | Unknown |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | -- |
| Aircraft Owner State | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | -- |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | -- |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | -- |
| Operator State | -- |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | -- |
| Operator Code | REXA |
| Owner has at least one certificate | Yes - certificate holder |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | -- |
| Operator Certificate Number | REXA257A |
| Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not | Scheduled |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | Domestic |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | Passenger Only |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | -- |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | DTW |
| Departure City | Detroit |
| Departure State | MI |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | -- |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | AVP |
| Destination City | Wilkes-Barre |
| Destination State | PA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 4 2010 1:40PM |
| User who most recently changed record | johb |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 21R |
| Runway Length | 8501 |
| Runway Width | 200 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |