A tower controller was clearing helicopters to land and depart from a closed runway. The controller ...

Attributes
ACN	1350280
Time
Date	201604
Local Time Of Day	1801-2400
Place
Locale Reference	PRC.Tower
State Reference	AZ
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Robinson R22
Flight Phase	Initial Climb
Route In Use	None
Flight Plan	VFR
Person 1
Function	Supervisor / CIC
Qualification	Air Traffic Control Fully Certified
Experience	Air Traffic Control Time Certified In Pos 1 (yrs) 1.0
Person 2
Function	Flight Data / Clearance Delivery Local
Qualification	Air Traffic Control Fully Certified
Experience	Air Traffic Control Time Certified In Pos 1 (yrs) 2.0
Events
Anomaly	ATC Issue All Types Conflict Airborne Conflict Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy

Narrative:

I observed the local controller clear a helicopter for take off. This departure is covered in a letter of agreement (LOA). The LOA specifies the departure point as the intersection of taxiways. It is a common practice to depart from other points on the taxiway after coordination via flight progress strip. In this case local control was running a modified left traffic pattern. This operation required aircraft departing to make an early left crosswind turn.in this case the helicopter was coordinated to depart the taxiway. This would place the departure to the left of the runway abeam the departing aircraft. The local controller failed to scan and locate the departing traffic prior issuing take off clearance. After issuing the clearance which placed the aircraft in potential conflict with aircraft departing the runway that were instructed to turn early crosswind prior to the control tower. After clearing the helicopter for takeoff the controller reached out to aircraft advising not in sight and requesting position.this individual is in need of some sort of skill enhancement training related to scan.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A Tower Controller was clearing helicopters to land and depart from a closed runway. The Controller allowed an aircraft to taxi across the closed runway with a helicopter on approach.

Narrative: I observed the Local Controller clear a helicopter for take off. This departure is covered in a Letter of Agreement (LOA). The LOA specifies the departure point as the intersection of taxiways. It is a common practice to depart from other points on the taxiway after coordination via flight progress strip. In this case Local Control was running a modified left traffic pattern. This operation required aircraft departing to make an early left crosswind turn.In this case the helicopter was coordinated to depart the taxiway. This would place the departure to the left of the runway abeam the departing aircraft. The Local Controller failed to scan and locate the departing traffic prior issuing take off clearance. After issuing the clearance which placed the aircraft in potential conflict with aircraft departing the runway that were instructed to turn early crosswind prior to the control tower. After clearing the helicopter for takeoff the controller reached out to aircraft advising not in sight and requesting position.This individual is in need of some sort of skill enhancement training related to scan.

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.

A tower controller was clearing helicopters to land and depart from a closed runway. The controller allowed an aircraft to taxi across the closed runway with a helicopter on approach.