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Air carrier arrival was cleared for a visual approach to runway 19 only to discover opposite direction traffic departing runway 1 when transferred to the tower; a significant communication error between the tower/TRACON was listed as the causal factor.
| Attributes | |
| ACN | 1026766 |
| Time | |
| Date | 201207 |
| Local Time Of Day | 1201-1800 |
| Place | |
| Locale Reference | ZZZ.Airport |
| State Reference | US |
| Environment | |
| Flight Conditions | VMC |
| Aircraft 1 | |
| Make Model Name | EMB ERJ 170/175 ER/LR |
| Operating Under FAR Part | Part 121 |
| Flight Phase | Initial Approach |
| Aircraft 2 | |
| Make Model Name | EMB ERJ 145 ER/LR |
| Operating Under FAR Part | Part 121 |
| Flight Phase | Takeoff |
| Person 1 | |
| Function | Pilot Not Flying Captain |
| Qualification | Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP) |
| Person 2 | |
| Function | Pilot Flying First Officer |
| Events | |
| Anomaly | ATC Issue All Types Conflict Airborne Conflict |
Narrative:
Talking to TRACON; we were told we would be vectored to cross over mid field to enter a left downwind for the active runway 1. As we crossed mid field; ATC said there was a change of plans and due to the calm winds on the field and the thunderstorms in the vicinity; and that we would be doing the other arrival to runway 19. He gave us a 030 heading and a decent from 6;000 to 3;000. At this point he gave us 090 heading and asked if we had the river and airport in sight. We did so he cleared us for the new arrival. I inquired about switching to tower frequency; he then switched us to tower. When contacting tower they were quite surprised that we were checking in for the new arrival to runway 19. The controller immediately instructed us to turn to a 180 heading to avoid the traffic coming right at us that had just departed runway 1. After being vectored around we eventually landed safely on runway 19. After landing we talked ATC and they informed us that there was a breakdown in communication between the TRACON and the tower controllers. They apparently did not coordinate with each other which lead to the incident.
Original NASA ASRS Text
Title: Air Carrier arrival was cleared for a Visual Approach to Runway 19 only to discover opposite direction traffic departing Runway 1 when transferred to the Tower; a significant communication error between the Tower/TRACON was listed as the causal factor.
Narrative: Talking to TRACON; we were told we would be vectored to cross over mid field to enter a left downwind for the active Runway 1. As we crossed mid field; ATC said there was a change of plans and due to the calm winds on the field and the thunderstorms in the vicinity; and that we would be doing the other arrival to Runway 19. He gave us a 030 heading and a decent from 6;000 to 3;000. At this point he gave us 090 heading and asked if we had the river and airport in sight. We did so he cleared us for the new arrival. I inquired about switching to Tower frequency; he then switched us to Tower. When contacting Tower they were quite surprised that we were checking in for the new arrival to Runway 19. The Controller immediately instructed us to turn to a 180 heading to avoid the traffic coming right at us that had just departed Runway 1. After being vectored around we eventually landed safely on Runway 19. After landing we talked ATC and they informed us that there was a breakdown in communication between the TRACON and the Tower controllers. They apparently did not coordinate with each other which lead to the incident.
Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2013 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.