Unclear coordination between the ground controller and local controller caused an aircraft to cross ...

Attributes
ACN	166213
Time
Date	199012
Day	Fri
Local Time Of Day	1201 To 1800
Place
Locale Reference	airport : atl
State Reference	GA
Altitude	agl bound lower : 0 agl bound upper : 0
Environment
Flight Conditions	IMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Controlling Facilities	tower : san
Operator	general aviation : personal
Make Model Name	Small Transport, Low Wing, 2 Recip Eng
Flight Phase	ground other : taxi
Flight Plan	IFR
Aircraft 2
Operator	common carrier : air carrier
Make Model Name	Medium Large Transport
Navigation In Use	Other
Flight Phase	climbout : takeoff
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Affiliation	government : faa
Function	controller : ground
Qualification	controller : non radar
ASRS Report	166213
Person 2
Affiliation	government : faa
Function	controller : local
Qualification	controller : non radar
ASRS Report	167009
Events
Anomaly	conflict : ground critical non adherence : required legal separation non adherence : published procedure
Independent Detector	other flight crewa
Resolutory Action	none taken : detected after the fact
Consequence	Other
Miss Distance	horizontal : 0 vertical : 50
Supplementary
Primary Problem	ATC Human Performance
Air Traffic Incident	Operational Error Intra Facility Coordination Failure
Situations
ATC Facility	other physical facility

Narrative:

An small transport X called ground control for taxi. Departure runway would be runway 9L. He was parked at GA parking on the north side of the airport. Runway 9L was the south inboard runway. The small transport X sat there holding short of runway 8L for 10-12 mins due to arrival spacing. (The RVR was 1000' in drizzle and fog. CAT ii approachs in use). Finally a widebody transport Y landed and I a ground controller told him to cross runway 8L hold short of runway 8R. The asde (ground control) radar was unusable, and the visibility was so bad it was like being inside a golf ball in the tower. I knew widebody transport Y was coming back on the same taxiway my small transport X was on, so I asked the tower controller if he want me in front of or behind the widebody transport Y since we couldn't see anything. I heard him to say go ahead and cross which implied to me to cross runway 8R. If he meant to cross runway 8R or the taxiway that widebody transport Y was on was unclr. He was certain his intentions were to cross the taxiway and not the runway because when I told small transport X to cross runway 8R, he was issuing instructions to medium large transport Z to takeoff runway 8R. Medium large transport Z pilot reported he overflew small transport X crossing the runway mid-field. The small transport X pilot never reported he saw the medium large transport Z jet. Supplemental information from acn 167009. Ground control then asks who he had to give way to in the vicinity of taxiway B. Local control then said to come on with the small transport and he would yield to him. Ground control mistook this as approval to cross runway 8R. The main reason this happened was poor coordination between the controllers. Had the 7110.65 been followed this probably would not have occurred. A contributing factor was that the asde radar was not working properly. We as controllers were told not to use the asde for sep. Numerous times the asde has been logged out of service only to be brought back on line as 'working fine.'

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: UNCLEAR COORD BETWEEN THE GND CTLR AND LCL CTLR CAUSED AN ACFT TO CROSS A RWY WHILE ANOTHER ACFT WAS DEPARTING. THE DEP CROSSED OVER THE TOP OF THE TAXIING ACFT.

Narrative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

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2007 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.

Unclear coordination between the ground controller and local controller caused an aircraft to cross a runway while another aircraft was departing. The departure crossed over the top of the taxiing aircraft.