Burbank tower controller reported of a wake turbulence separation loss due to re-categorization of s...

Attributes
ACN	1411542
Time
Date	201612
Local Time Of Day	0601-1200
Place
Locale Reference	BUR.Airport
State Reference	CA
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Small Transport Low Wing 2 Turbojet Eng
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 91
Flight Phase	Initial Climb
Route In Use	None
Flight Plan	IFR
Aircraft 2
Make Model Name	Light Transport Low Wing 2 Turbojet Eng
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 91
Flight Phase	Initial Climb
Flight Plan	VFR
Person 1
Function	Local
Qualification	Air Traffic Control Fully Certified
Experience	Air Traffic Control Time Certified In Pos 1 (yrs) 7
Events
Anomaly	ATC Issue All Types Conflict Airborne Conflict Deviation - Procedural Clearance Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy Inflight Event / Encounter Wake Vortex Encounter

Narrative:

Aircraft X was waiting to depart IFR off of runway 15. Aircraft Y was conducting low approaches on the opposite direction runway 33. Aircraft Y had been conducting approaches for an hour now. I had an IFR release for aircraft X and was motivated to get aircraft Y done with the approaches so we could go back to normal operations. I cleared aircraft X for takeoff after aircraft Y was on departure. I forgot about wake recategory and the new separation and it was too late to cancel the takeoff clearance. Aircraft X flew through the wake turbulence without incident.wake recategory is very complex with numerous different categories from a to F for all types of aircraft. It is unclear in the tower what the separation is with opposite direction wake recategory separation. We need to be trained better for wake recategory. We had one day of class and were given a reference card for the operation. I take full responsibility for this situation and it was my fault.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Burbank Tower Controller reported of a wake turbulence separation loss due to re-categorization of separation rules. Controller departed an aircraft into the wake of an opposite direction arrival aircraft and did not have the correct separation.

Narrative: Aircraft X was waiting to depart IFR off of runway 15. Aircraft Y was conducting low approaches on the opposite direction runway 33. Aircraft Y had been conducting approaches for an hour now. I had an IFR release for Aircraft X and was motivated to get Aircraft Y done with the approaches so we could go back to normal operations. I cleared Aircraft X for takeoff after Aircraft Y was on departure. I forgot about wake recategory and the new separation and it was too late to cancel the takeoff clearance. Aircraft X flew through the wake turbulence without incident.Wake Recategory is very complex with numerous different categories from A to F for all types of aircraft. It is unclear in the tower what the separation is with opposite direction wake recategory separation. We need to be trained better for wake recategory. We had one day of class and were given a reference card for the operation. I take full responsibility for this situation and it was my fault.

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.

Burbank tower controller reported of a wake turbulence separation loss due to re-categorization of separation rules. Controller departed an aircraft into the wake of an opposite direction arrival aircraft and did not have the correct separation.