Narrative:

I was working local 1. Departure runway 4L; I cleared a B737; for take off runway 4L. I issued 'runway heading' to protect for possible missed approach runway 4R. Controller working runway 4R advised traffic landing runway 4R was on missed approach. I did not hear his instruction to his missed approach. I advised my departure that traffic on his right side was going around and I needed him to stay on runway heading. I saw the missed approach; a second B737; turning left instead of the usual right turn. I advised the runway 4R controller what his traffic was doing. He stated he gave the missed a right turn. I noticed my departure was climbing thru 2;000 ft and the missed approach aircraft was turning into my departure at about 800 ft. I told my departure to expedite his climb to 5;000. I told the other controller to stop his missed approach at 2;000. He stated he already had. I then stopped my departure at 4;000 because I had a 4;000 ft altitude restriction. I then observed the missed approach turning right and no longer a factor for my departure; I turned my departure back on his usual heading. We have had many problems on this runway set-up throughout my tenure; and it can all be traced to one variable. The standard departure off of runway 4L turns over the extended center line of runway 4R (the arrival runway). Until we develop procedures that allow for the departures to remain on runway heading; we will continue to have these incidents. The situation definitely was exacerbated by the second B737 turning left instead of right which is normal operating procedures for this situation. And no doubt; a language barrier issue might have been a contributing factor. We shouldn't ignore the fact that we often use this runway set-up in bad weather. And it remains a possibility in really bad weather that the miss will not want to turn right into convective weather. Then what options do we have to keep the departure and missed approach separated.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Tower Controller described a conflict event when traffic on a missed approach conflicted with departure traffic that turn unexpectedly in the wrong direction; the reporter suggested new missed approach procedures be developed.

Narrative: I was working Local 1. Departure Runway 4L; I cleared a B737; for take off Runway 4L. I issued 'Runway heading' to protect for possible missed approach Runway 4R. Controller working Runway 4R advised traffic landing Runway 4R was on missed approach. I did not hear his instruction to his missed approach. I advised my departure that traffic on his right side was going around and I needed him to stay on runway heading. I saw the missed approach; a second B737; turning left instead of the usual right turn. I advised the Runway 4R Controller what his traffic was doing. He stated he gave the missed a right turn. I noticed my departure was climbing thru 2;000 FT and the missed approach aircraft was turning into my departure at about 800 FT. I told my departure to expedite his climb to 5;000. I told the other Controller to stop his missed approach at 2;000. He stated he already had. I then stopped my departure at 4;000 because I had a 4;000 FT altitude restriction. I then observed the missed approach turning right and no longer a factor for my departure; I turned my departure back on his usual heading. We have had many problems on this runway set-up throughout my tenure; and it can all be traced to one variable. The standard departure off of Runway 4L turns over the extended center line of Runway 4R (the arrival runway). Until we develop procedures that allow for the departures to remain on runway heading; we will continue to have these incidents. The situation definitely was exacerbated by the second B737 turning left instead of right which is normal operating procedures for this situation. And no doubt; a language barrier issue might have been a contributing factor. We shouldn't ignore the fact that we often use this runway set-up in bad weather. And it remains a possibility in really bad weather that the miss will not want to turn right into convective weather. Then what options do we have to keep the departure and missed approach separated.

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.