Narrative:

I started opening the tower for the business day. The flm was there and informed me that the ASOS was not working so she was there to give a dash 8 the current information to allow him to depart on time. The dash 8 started taxing out so I asked him if he had the weather; he said he did but I also gave him what was most current on the weather screen. The dash 8 then asked if I could give him his IFR clearance. Because I know that it is hard to contact the center from the ground at the airport; I gave the dash 8 his clearance. I did not clear him for take off or reference any release type information. I immediately called the center and told them that I had issued the clearance to dash 8 and said they should be calling them shortly for a release. A minute or two after that I heard the dash 8 departing from the runway so I asked him for a tops report. The dash 8 gave me a tops report I then told him to have a good flight. Shortly after the dash 8's departure someone from the center called and asked if we released the dash 8. I said no. The controller asked if we saw the skylane. I said no; and that I could not even see the runway. The center then called back and said that a skylane departed the same time that the dash 8 did. I was not aware that there was even another aircraft out by the runway. There was fog limiting the visibility to less than 1/4 mile and there were no broadcasts by the skylane that he was even moving about the airport or that he was going to depart. Because the flm was in the cab at the time she started looking into what happened. I will never issue a clearance before we open again; even if it is a nice guy thing to do.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Before official opening; a Tower Controller gave a clearance; as a courtesy; to an Air Carrier that then failed to get a release from the controlling Center before departing.

Narrative: I started opening the Tower for the business day. The FLM was there and informed me that the ASOS was not working so she was there to give a Dash 8 the current information to allow him to depart on time. The Dash 8 started taxing out so I asked him if he had the weather; he said he did but I also gave him what was most current on the weather screen. The Dash 8 then asked if I could give him his IFR clearance. Because I know that it is hard to contact the Center from the ground at the airport; I gave the Dash 8 his clearance. I did not clear him for take off or reference any release type information. I immediately called the Center and told them that I had issued the clearance to Dash 8 and said they should be calling them shortly for a release. A minute or two after that I heard the Dash 8 departing from the runway so I asked him for a tops report. The Dash 8 gave me a tops report I then told him to have a good flight. Shortly after the Dash 8's departure someone from the Center called and asked if we released the Dash 8. I said no. The Controller asked if we saw the Skylane. I said no; and that I could not even see the runway. The Center then called back and said that a Skylane departed the same time that the Dash 8 did. I was not aware that there was even another aircraft out by the runway. There was fog limiting the visibility to less than 1/4 mile and there were no broadcasts by the Skylane that he was even moving about the airport or that he was going to depart. Because the FLM was in the Cab at the time she started looking into what happened. I will never issue a clearance before we open again; even if it is a nice guy thing to do.

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.