Narrative:

Runways 14 and 19 were the active runways at the time and we were using visual approaches. I was local control. My traffic consisted of air carrier X on a straight in to runway 14; a cessna in right close traffic to runway 14; a bonanza and cirrus in left traffic for runway 14; and another cessna holding short runway 14 for departure. I scanned runway 14 and cleared air carrier X to land. Once air carrier X touched down I watched his roll out to see which taxiway he would make and seeing he was going to the end of the runway; I told him to turn left at the end and contact ground. Then I issued a wake turbulence advisory to the landing cessna for the arrived air carrier X and cleared him for touch and go. After that I cleared the departing cessna for take off on runway 14 without delay because the arriving cessna was on right base to final. I sequenced the bonanza to follow the landing cessna and the cirrus to follow the bonanza. After the arriving cessna did their touch and go and had just lifted off; I overheard ground control and the flm (front line manager) discussing a person being near runway 14 on the west side (I would learn later that air carrier X had apparently informed ground control of this but the controller did not inform me; the local controller; instead they informed the flm who also failed to inform me) and after overhearing them talking I became alerted to a person who appeared to be jogging west of runway 14. I issued a general cautionary advisory to the landing cessna; bonanza; and cirrus. Because the bonanza was on short final; cleared and committed to land runway 14 and because I had observed the jogger was not on the runway but west of it in the grass; I did not try to send the bonanza around as a late go around in my opinion would have been equally or more unsafe then allowing him to land. The cirrus and cessna I then changed to runway 19 and proceed to coordinate with ground to allow airport personnel and law enforcement personal to cross runway 14 and intercept and remove the jogger. Recommendation; I will work to develop a more intense scan so I will catch these anomalies sooner. Better communications between the tower team so that if these anomalies are noticed and communicated to the local controller right away.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: STS local controller described a failed coordination event when a jogger near the runway; reported to other tower personnel; went unnoticed/coordinated and traffic operations continued.

Narrative: Runways 14 and 19 were the active runways at the time and we were using visual approaches. I was local control. My traffic consisted of Air Carrier X on a straight in to Runway 14; a Cessna in right close traffic to Runway 14; a Bonanza and Cirrus in left traffic for Runway 14; and another Cessna holding short Runway 14 for departure. I scanned Runway 14 and cleared Air Carrier X to land. Once Air Carrier X touched down I watched his roll out to see which taxiway he would make and seeing he was going to the end of the runway; I told him to turn left at the end and contact ground. Then I issued a wake turbulence advisory to the landing Cessna for the arrived Air Carrier X and cleared him for touch and go. After that I cleared the departing Cessna for take off on Runway 14 without delay because the arriving Cessna was on right base to final. I sequenced the Bonanza to follow the landing Cessna and the Cirrus to follow the Bonanza. After the arriving Cessna did their touch and go and had just lifted off; I overheard Ground Control and the FLM (Front Line Manager) discussing a person being near Runway 14 on the west side (I would learn later that Air Carrier X had apparently informed Ground Control of this but the Controller did not inform me; the Local Controller; instead they informed the FLM who also failed to inform me) and after overhearing them talking I became alerted to a person who appeared to be jogging west of Runway 14. I issued a general cautionary advisory to the landing Cessna; Bonanza; and Cirrus. Because the Bonanza was on short final; cleared and committed to land Runway 14 and because I had observed the jogger was not on the runway but west of it in the grass; I did not try to send the Bonanza around as a late go around in my opinion would have been equally or more unsafe then allowing him to land. The Cirrus and Cessna I then changed to Runway 19 and proceed to coordinate with ground to allow airport personnel and law enforcement personal to cross Runway 14 and intercept and remove the jogger. Recommendation; I will work to develop a more intense scan so I will catch these anomalies sooner. Better communications between the tower team so that if these anomalies are noticed and communicated to the Local Controller right away.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 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.