Ground controller heard an aircraft that was cleared onto the active runway advise the local control...

Narrative:

I was working ground control and it was one of the busiest sessions I've had recently. Among other traffic; I had two CL30s taxiing out; and I was trying to ensure I had given local control (local control) the strips in the correct sequence; with a C182 taxiing out requesting an intersection departure on 30R. I was concerned with ensuring the 182 taxied to the correct intersection; knew there'd be a delay for wake turbulence; was going to hold him short of the runway; and would not be blocking taxiways that would be needed by aircraft exiting the runway. I was also preparing to give a relief briefing to the incoming controller and was trying to keep an eye on local control's traffic situation; but it was difficult at times due to my own workload. While all of the above was taking place; I heard local control tell the CL30 to line up and wait on 30R; and heard a strange response from the pilot. The pilot said something about 'after the traffic on short final' and I heard another voice on frequency say something about being on short final. I looked up with the rest of the tower cab; heard local control urgently issue instructions to [a C172] to change to 30L; and saw the cessna on final maneuvering over to runway 30L. My understanding is that the pilot was supposed to be on final for 30L for his touch and goes. I am not sure if there was a read back issue; confusion from a relief briefing (the previous controller was just relieved); or simply the pilot gave the correct read back; but turned final for the wrong runway. Not to be melodramatic; but it was one of the spookiest events I have seen in a while. After correcting on the first approach; the C172 continued in the pattern and the CL30 departed.this event highlights the importance of a number of critical items. Visual scanning cannot be emphasized enough; and the flight crew on the ground was clearly a hero during this event. They appeared to perform their role flawlessly by scanning the final; detecting an unsafe situation (traffic short final); not accepting the ATC clearance given; and informing the controller politely and calmly that something was wrong or overlooked by the controller. This is a textbook example of the partnership that should exist between controllers and pilots to break the chain of events that can lead to a catastrophic event.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Ground Controller heard an aircraft that was cleared onto the active runway advise the Local Controller of traffic on final. Landing traffic was advised to land on the adjacent parallel runway.

Narrative: I was working Ground Control and it was one of the busiest sessions I've had recently. Among other traffic; I had two CL30s taxiing out; and I was trying to ensure I had given Local Control (LC) the strips in the correct sequence; with a C182 taxiing out requesting an intersection departure on 30R. I was concerned with ensuring the 182 taxied to the correct intersection; knew there'd be a delay for wake turbulence; was going to hold him short of the runway; and would not be blocking taxiways that would be needed by aircraft exiting the runway. I was also preparing to give a relief briefing to the incoming controller and was trying to keep an eye on LC's traffic situation; but it was difficult at times due to my own workload. While all of the above was taking place; I heard LC tell the CL30 to line up and wait on 30R; and heard a strange response from the pilot. The pilot said something about 'after the traffic on short final' and I heard another voice on frequency say something about being on short final. I looked up with the rest of the tower cab; heard LC urgently issue instructions to [a C172] to change to 30L; and saw the Cessna on final maneuvering over to RWY 30L. My understanding is that the pilot was supposed to be on final for 30L for his touch and goes. I am not sure if there was a read back issue; confusion from a relief briefing (the previous controller was just relieved); or simply the pilot gave the correct read back; but turned final for the wrong runway. Not to be melodramatic; but it was one of the spookiest events I have seen in a while. After correcting on the first approach; the C172 continued in the pattern and the CL30 departed.This event highlights the importance of a number of critical items. Visual scanning cannot be emphasized enough; and the flight crew on the ground was clearly a hero during this event. They appeared to perform their role flawlessly by scanning the final; detecting an unsafe situation (traffic short final); not accepting the ATC clearance given; and informing the controller politely and calmly that something was wrong or overlooked by the controller. This is a textbook example of the partnership that should exist between controllers and pilots to break the chain of events that can lead to a catastrophic event.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site 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.

Attributes
ACN	1305940
Time
Date	201510
Local Time Of Day	1201-1800
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.Tower
State Reference	US
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Dusk
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Skyhawk 172/Cutlass 172
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 91
Flight Phase	Final Approach
Route In Use	Visual Approach
Aircraft 2
Make Model Name	Challenger 300
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 91
Flight Phase	Taxi
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Function	Ground
Qualification	Air Traffic Control Fully Certified
Experience	Air Traffic Control Time Certified In Pos 1 (yrs) 6.1
Events
Anomaly	Airspace Violation All Types Conflict Airborne Conflict Deviation - Procedural Clearance Deviation - Track / Heading All Types

Ground controller heard an aircraft that was cleared onto the active runway advise the local controller of traffic on final. Landing traffic was advised to land on the adjacent parallel runway.