RUNWAY INCURSION - CLOSE CALL in Washington [ATC AUDIO] 

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While the controller obviously made a huge mistake, I certainly have to credit everyone involved for keeping their cool on frequency. Yes, a potentially lethal mistake was made, and everyone knew it, but they were also professional enough to know that arguing about it over the radios was not going to help and could even have opened the door for more mistakes.

"Hey tower, advise me when you're ready to copy, I have a number for you to call "

One day working as a traffic controller probably takes a month of your lifetime.

You don't realize how stressful is being an air traffic controller. I work in airport operations and I was once given clearance to proceed down the runway just after she cleared an Allegiant Airlines Airbus to take off on that same Runway. I had to tell the controller I'm going to hold short because you just cleared the Allegiant, to which she replied that's a good call. I'm just saying we're all human beings and we make mistakes. Instead of always looking for a scapegoat we need to focus on learning from our mistakes.

Credit the UA 326 pilots for being calm and professional, at least on the radio. I'm pretty sure they were cussing that controller a new one while taxiing back into takeoff position a second time.

Just further proof that ATC clearance is NOT absolute. Pilots, especially newer ones, could easily make that mistake. Not checking things for themselves, just because the “had clearance”. Good heads up by this crew. Great video.

So the only thing that prevented an accident was that the aircraft cleated for takeoff had visual of another aircraft several hundred meters away? Imagine if it had been foggy...

A clearance from a controller is like a green traffic light. It means you're allowed to go, but you still have to look as much as possible to be sure it's safe.

Proper teamwork in action. That, ladies and gentlemen, is how everyone gets to go home at night. It takes individuals to be heros, but a whole team of people to make a disaster. Keep looking out for each other folks.

*"Tower, you got a pen and paper? I have a number for you to call...."*

Please remain with me on this frequency... (Dont tell on Ground frequency what just happened...)

Good thing 326 was paying attention omg controller!!!!!

Wow - I thought the crew was remarkably polite. Noticed no apology from the controller. Thank goodness everyone had situational awareness.

i can barely keep up with all the orders working in mcdonald’s.... imagine having to manage all these aircrafts on ur frequency

I know it's a business that can broach no mistakes...but the professionalism shown here in overcoming one without drama or vitriol is commendable.

I'm in this career field and situations like this remind you of exactly how little people care what you did correct. Thousands of times per day a controller does his/her job perfectly but not a single positive comment but one mental error and you're incompetent. I hope everything works out for the guy, he didn't intentionally mess up. We're all actually human and make mistakes... Except when we're online and judging others for their mistakes. Smh

This had the best outcome possible. Great heads up. Being professional during and after. class act!

If they have to keep up this pace all the time, its no wonder they burn out...

Wow, that is a mind blowing sequence of events. So glad it ended up as a training/learning opportunity and not a flaming wreck costing hundreds of lives.

As a passenger when the captain explains a delay instead of getting impatient i always appreciate having good decision making up front. Diverted around Chicago once I even thanked god!

Years ago I was in a small commercial turbo prop coming into LAX and with an open cabin you could see and hear everything. We got clearance to follow a 747 in the pattern and the pilot politely reminded the female ATC that she was taking a small plane directly into a jumbo jet’s wake. She snapped that either we follow or to initiate a go around. Pilot acknowledged and as we turned into the pattern we immediately inverted. While it seemed we were in that position forever it couldn’t have been more than a second or two as the pilot had anticipated what might happen. To make a long story short and in contrast to the unemotional reaction that we hear on this tape , my guy threw every fuck, shit and god damn at this ATC . Don’t know if it was transmitted to the tower but it was at least a 30 second championship rant. Nine passengers got off that plane at 9:15 am and we all went looking for a bar and a restroom to clean our underwear

Can’t believe how fast these guys talk. It’s insane to think how many lives are on the line and Communication on the ground is so rushed. Amazed there isn’t more accidents in and around airports.

One of the most stressful occupations on earth. Respect!

This is one of the more calm, polite, well handled incidents I’ve heard, tbh.

Dangerous but human mistake by Tower, but it’s a damn good thing UAL326 was keeping their eyes peeled. I’m surprised some of the ground aircraft didn’t realize it even though they were on tower frequency.

Wow, not one but two planes cleared to cross after giving takeoff clearance. Scary stuff. I wonder if it was fatigue related or what happened that made him forget he cleared 326

It surprises me how unapologetic the controller was . You just nearly caused 2 or more passenger airliners to collide on the runway . Atleast say sorry . He didn't even ask if United had hot brakes or needed some time for maintenance checks . Just asked him to taxi back to runway . You could feel the level of disinterest in the controller's voice , " Yeah I fucked up , so what ? Now Taxi back to the runway . "

I have no idea how pilots and ATC do this job. There is so much going on and so many lives in their hands. Bravo and a big salute to all the women and men who do these pressure packed jobs, no way I could do it. I have a question for you highly skilled professional's, do the communications have to be so fast and what seems to be garbled at times? How do you process all that? I'm not an uneducated drooling simpleton, I have a Bachelor's degree in Actuarial Science and graduated with honor's but this stuff just boggles my brain. You all need a raise.

Surprised Dulles does not have sensors at the taxiway hold short lines and an automated runway incursion alarm system

Since I'm not sure who screwed up here, I worry it might have been me.

The FAA considers runway incursions an important problem. Often pilots are required to take remedial training, maybe the same is true for controllers. I'm a member of the local glider club, and our field is just outside the Bedminster TFR, and I hear of incursions (not from our glider pilots) into the TFR just about every time it is in effect, and the usual action is to require remedial pilot training.

Excellent illustration of why you need to keep your head in the game, and not be robot to Tower. Thanks for posting this!

The above video is a prime example of why I could NEVER be an Air Traffic Controller, or pilot. Just too much overall stress. Too many things to remember, and read back. And you HAVE to be correct. No errors allowed. It wasn't like that in school. One minor error could be disaster. There's gotta be easier, less stressful jobs out there.

That is good situational awareness by the pilots of UAL. This is a good reason to have a sterile cockpit when taxiing.

Yes the controller made a huge mistake. Should he lose his job? Absolutely not. Most of you complaining about his mistake don't have half of the skills to be an air traffic controller. P.S. props to everyone involved on this incident by keeping it professional.

He told him to line up and wait for multiple crossings then tells clear for take off.

Well done UAL326. The other two didn't get anything !

Based on little but youtube videos, I make the following observations based on comments about how this error was made: 1) Quite often, I see pilots are busy doing checklists, especially immediately before and after take-off. Unless they hear their callsign, a lot of radio chatter can be missed while pilot and co-pilot are check+confirming these checklist procedures vocally. This is easily the reason taxiing aircraft blindly obeyed the controllers clearance to cross - they did not necessarily know an aircraft had been T/O cleared on the runway (although a standard check is to visually check the runway before crossing, 326 could easily have been mistaken for a "line-up and wait". 2) The same reason above is why 326 spotted the aircraft on the runway - Lineup-and wait instructions DIRECTED to 326 included warning about crossing aircraft BEFORE clearance for takeoff was granted - this is a deliberate safety measure (why tell a waiting aircraft about crossings ahead if they'll never get clearance to move before the runway is clear?). 3)Take-off roll continued after aircraft were cleared to cross likely because of vocal confirmations in the cockpit during and for roll-out (the pilots may or may not have heard the crossing clearances) 4) bear in mind the controller has been calling taxiway and runway numbers constantly - it's very easy to forget their meanings after many repetitions. for example, try saying "flying fortress" every minute for an hour. Do this for several hours a day. when does the aircraft stop appearing in your head when you say it, and just becomes words? avoiding cognitive repetitive training like this is probably the hardest thing a controller has to do, one day of being tired is enough to make a simple mistake, and doubling up on Situation awareness communications provides a backup against them (see 2). There is no blame, procedure was followed - that procedure has to (and does) include backups against human error, which is inevitable.

Could never do that job. Flying into small/regional airports was enough for me, and I still made mistakes just *repeating.* Hung up my wings decades ago. Hats off to these people, but it's high time to get both the ground and tower automated (as much as I despise it) with human oversight. Driver-less cars will save more lives, but this is also much needed.

It's always a good idea to listen carefully to tower orders for other planes even during takeoff roll.

The flight crew handled the situation very professionally with regards to how they treated the controller. My question is regarding how the crew handled the RTO. If they aborted at a speed of 80kts or less than it’s possible that they didn’t use much braking. That is, if the auto brakes were disarmed during the RTO or not armed at all. If they rejected at a speed higher than 80kts then there are typically charts to follow with significant cooling times before attempting another takeoff. Carbon brakes don’t reach their max temp until 10-15 minutes after brake application. They could suck a ticking time bomb up into the wheel wells after the 2nd attempt. It’s possible that they left the gear down for a little while after takeoff to cool the brakes.

Tough job for sure. I hope he didn’t loose the job, that’s a teaching moment for sure.

The controller messed up big time. Kudos for the UAL crew for their excellent situational awareness

A very serious error was made. And 326 knows it. But 326 did not add to the predicament. His behavior helped the situation. Truly professional action.

They have a tough job for sure

UAL326: Possible ATC Deviation - Let me know when you have a pen and paper and I'll give you a number to call. LOL

TCAS is inhibited on the ground, so no it doesn't work. If it were foggy, and the controller can't see ground movement, then different procedures go into affect and it slows everything down and passengers get angry. Most of us watch each other and call out if something doesn't seem right. It's not like your average drive down 95, and your hoping to arrive alive. No! We don't text while flying.

Apologies for being a little off-topic but I'm always confused why US ATCO's seem to speak so fast. Is it truly necessary? I appreciate that it can get very busy on frequency but does it waste much time slowing speech down and enunciating?

cleared for takeoff on 19c yet tells other aircraft to cross 19c while that united is rolling

United 326 pilot have good situation awareness, calm and professional Well done !

When a pilot makes a mistake, you hear "possible pilot deviation, I have a number for you to call". So what happends when controllers make mistakes such as this?

IAD has Runway Status Lights, which are fully automated. If UA326 was on the runway, the runway entrance lights should have been red. Also, the Takeoff Hold lights should turn red if another aircraft enters the runway. Pilots are supposed to alert the controller if the RWSL are in conflict with clearance.

Great video. Thumbs up as long as I’m cleared....

If this happened to drivers on the freeway there would have been a road-rage crash probably involving multiple vehicles and possibly a shoot-out. Instead we don't even have any kind of call-out on frequency. Aviation: the last refuge of professionalism in America. "We rejected for aircraft on runway." Amazing.

The 'blame' culture enshrined in these comments does nothing to improve aviation safety IMHO. Both pilots and controllers are believe it or not human and humans make mistakes. They are collectively responsible for safety. Yes the controller in this case lost situational awareness but the United crew caught the error and 'fixed' it. Yes in fog this could have been worse but if the rules are different thats not comparing like with like. Ask yourself who would you rather have controlling your flight on a bad day a controller with say 10 years experience and this single mistake on their record or some green horn with 3 months experience and no mistakes. Burning the controller (or pilot) at the stake may feel satisfying but as I said does nothing to improve safety and on the balance of probability likely reduces overall safety.

I understand the viewpoint of people saying that the controller got lucky and that he shouldn't be given a second chance because so many people's lives are at stake, but think about this...because he knows how lucky he was, he will probably be one of the most fastidious controllers around. He'll pay better attention because he'll torture himself with the what-ifs for quite some time. That's assuming of course that he doesn't end up losing his confidence and becomes unable due to the anxiety. In my experience, that's the way it'll go. They'll either be completely unable to do the job due to panic attacks, or they'll become one of the best in the field.

What is most disturbing is the controller forgot he cleared united 326 for takeoff😑Controller cleared 326 for takeoff then after 326 aborted takeoff controller asked if 326 was cleared to takeoff😣why clear an aircraft to taxi across a runway with another aircraft taking off by same controller? Crazy

Hopefully this guy didn’t quit his job, and he got whatever training he needed, and he is back at it. It’s a hard job and stressful. And he sounds like he is good at it. He would have to be in order to have become a tower controller at a major airport in the first place. People make mistakes. Look how many planes have crashed that weren’t ATC’s fault.

What's harder, aviating or communicating? I think I could probably fly with a few lessons but try to sort out the voice traffic seems impossible!

Calm cool and collected on everyone’s part despite confusion and what could easily have become chaos. Professionalism!

Yeah tower, we're going to need some time at the end TO CHANGE OUR PANTS!

That sucks. I was a CA for an American Airline (get it) for over 34 years. I'm one airplane. This guy is handling hundreds. While I realize the seriousness of the situation I ALSO recognize that people fail. In aviation it's not 'good enough' to be correct 99.9% of the time. That's the equivalent of a 747 crashing EVERY DAY!. My heart goes out to this controller. I'm sure a good probably great man. That was just the day he made an error . The good thing is he was NOT the only one with skin in the game. The pilots, being the professionals that they are and corrected the situation. PLEASE remember. I handled one flight. This guy handled hundreds. It's not a one man show.

"Remain on this frequency please" is the formal version of "I know you have time to call my boss while you're taxiing back around, but I really wish you wouldn't".

ATC clearance does not negate the need for visual check. I hope some day we can have more of a stop gap system that can eliminate human errors. Imagine being an ATC at JFK, DFW, ORD, LAX....

the tower controller was struggling all throughout that video he sounded muddled and confused and i am not mistaken they swapped him out of that position straight after the incident

When the pilot should be telling the controller “be ready to take a phone number”.

Really feel bad for the controller, such an easy mistake to make, but so fundamental that that's probably it careerwise.

UAL326: "Tower, we're gonna a need a minute to empty the contents of our pants and clean our seats before going again."

I wonder what they told the pax for the reason of the RTO

UAL326: Tower, United 326. Do you have a pen ready to copy down a phone number? Tower: Uhhhhhhh…

With all of the technology that exists today is it not possible to build a system that warns a controller if he puts two planes on a runway at the same time?

Slightly surprised UAL326 didn't call for a landing wheel/brake inspection before retrying takeoff. Must not have developed much _speed_ on ground before realizing problem first time around.

Feel for the guy. Human error can happen at any level, regardless of training. But you really can't make mistakes like this.

He literally cleared a take off on 19C then went directly to tell the other one to cross.

Just curious - Does anyone know what the repercussions of this are for the ATC? Would he face any sort of suspension, or would it be more of a "go home and get some rest, you are done for the day?" I imagine there would be some sort of record if the error, but I'm wondering how common these little mistakes are (my guess would be relatively high, it's a demanding job)

Whoa, listening again, thank God for the pilots of UAL 326.

At 99.999% correct, perfect, no mistakes, this is bound to happen like 10 times a day. Good thing everyone is on top of their game.

I know the tower has a lot of moving parts but they be talking and switching so dang fast. Can we slow down just a hair?

"Go ahead and ...." "Ground's gonna be .... " "How about .... " "That's perfectly okay with me .... " That controller needs remedial training. Start with phraseology.

Love this, good vids! Start adding in some text explanations now that you’re over 10K subs; it will help to bring in more subscribers

I would not be able to do that job or take the stress that goes with it.

I think the procedural issue here is that TWR gave U326 permission to move to threshold and clearance all at the same time. Surely he gets permission to line up and wait and then permission to fly with a confirmation back frm 326 that he is in position and ready to take off in between those two communications. I'd guess the procedure was short circuited for reasons of time pressure.....

Oh my way to be on it United

When you let your alligator mouth overload your hummingbird ass...

He cleared to other planes to cross after he clear 326 for take off... rough night last night??

I respect ATC employees a lot. I could never do this job. When I make a coding error, I don't put the lives of hundreds of people in danger. I don't know how they deal with the pressure.

Potential catastrophic error. Whew.

Great example of a professional pilot in command honoring his responsibility to be in command, situationally aware, and have final decision authority and responsibility as to any operation no matter what anyone else has instructed, cleared or otherwise suggested he/she to do. "Cleared for Takeoff" means just that - cleared. It doesn't mean it's safe to take-off anywhere on that runway. No doubt, in this case, the controller made a mistake and it appears he, or ground, cleared a runway crossing having also cleared a take-off on that same runway but the pilot in command would still have been responsible for a collision had he proceeded with the departure without recognizing there was another aircraft on the runway and aborting - and rightfully so. The minute we start blaming controllers or suggesting they have some kind of authority they don't have is the minute pilots become automatons who just do as they are told without being diligent as to conditions that required a different action. I'm a lowly single engine land pilot but I've replied "negative on that last clearance/heading/request/instruction" on numerous occasions when I didn't feel safe doing what they were telling me to do. Directions into the pattern that would take me near or into potential IMC conditions is a common one where I'll reply "negative due to clouds, request joining the right downwind at XYZ..."

The airport layout is terrible with too many paths crossing active runways to get from one side to the other. Controllers are busy and over worked as is clear in this depiction.

Military aircraft use UHF frequencies. General aviation aircraft use VHF frequencies. Military air traffic control towers broadcast on Both frequency bands. When a military aircraft is practicing GCA approaches, that aircraft is NOT in direct contact with the tower. Ground Control (GCA) COORDINATES with the tower. What that means is you can NOT hear the tower's instructions to the military aircraft broadcast on either frequency bands. This is important when you are in a general aviation aircraft from the military base's flying club and you are participating VFR sharing air space with a P-3 Orion. My fellow air traffic controller cleared me (Cessna 152) to land ahead of a P-3 on a 3 mile practice GCA final !! As I looked to my left while on right base leg, I saw this massive 4 engine aircraft bearing down on me and promptly extended base past the FAC (final approach course) to get out of his way !! From there, I chose to establish right base for the intersecting runway, and the controller cleared me for the intersecting runway before I had a chance to state my intentions. After I got down on the ground, I looked up our ATC officer and described what took place and why I was a bit angry with my fellow controller.

Notice they changed controllers. Good luck at your new job.

Thats called that task saturation.

Tenerife: Part Deux :(

Ah Dulles! We had a nightmare flight attempt with the years ago. After a mechanical delay, a night back home, the next day with multiple gate changes and delays, they decided to send us to the aircraft on one of their people movers. We nearly got hit in the people mover by a 727. That was such a fun flight.........

Notice he was immediately relieved by another controller.

how does this work behind the scenes? The controller obviously changed in short order. Did someone in the tower overhear the error? Is there a big red "I messed up button and need a break"?

there has got to be a better way to do this...

Such a challenge to develop something way less prone to human and technical error then radios like these. Like a digital connection that sends typed commands (special keyboard for easy standardized phrases.) And then in the cockpit it is shown in text and said out loud by a computer. The pilot recieves it or not. No missing bits in the message, no distortion.

Silly silly mistake, it’s not a job you want to be making mistakes! The worst is he didint even remember if he cleared them...🤣