Narrative:

While working clearance delivery in the tower cab early in the morning with one other controller working local and ground control I observed a go-around. The tower controller landed a heavy cargo jet that landed runway 9 and rolled fairly long. Tiph (taxi in position and hold) was not permitted due to staffing. The tower controller had to anticipate separation and cleared the next departure for take-off before the first cleared the runway. This is necessary in order to hit the gaps with the arrival traffic. The departure was a B727. He took longer than anticipated to roll and the succeeding arrival; a B747; was forced to go around. In the early morning hours there are usually heavy jet foreign cargo airliners and closed runways. The operation can be fairly complex especially with converging and intersecting runways (runways 12 and 9). We are forced to anticipate quite a bit to get departures out and without the lead time for tiph it creates a wait and see situation. Will the aircraft go out around the corner? Will the lander make the first intersection? It's all guess work and watching to see if your assumptions are correct and it results in many go arounds. Tiph would offer much more positive control. To send a 747 around early in the morning can't be good for the foreign pilots who are probably fatigued after flying all night. Tiph allows for positive control. I can be assured the arrival has cleared the runway. I can be sure there is room for the next arrival to land after I roll the departure. This game of not allowing tiph when staffing is at a certain number or when the asde-X is on or any one of many other criteria is stupid. This morning is just one example of tiph creating a go around situation. The lead time to put the departure on the runway would have allowed the next aircraft to land.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: MIA Controller described a go-around allegedly caused by the inability to use Taxi Into Position and Hold (TIPH) procedures during certain operational periods based solely upon staffing criterion.

Narrative: While working Clearance Delivery in the Tower Cab early in the morning with one other Controller working Local and Ground Control I observed a go-around. The Tower Controller landed a heavy cargo jet that landed Runway 9 and rolled fairly long. TIPH (taxi in position and hold) was not permitted due to staffing. The Tower Controller had to anticipate separation and cleared the next departure for take-off before the first cleared the runway. This is necessary in order to hit the gaps with the arrival traffic. The departure was a B727. He took longer than anticipated to roll and the succeeding arrival; a B747; was forced to go around. In the early morning hours there are usually heavy jet foreign cargo airliners and closed runways. The operation can be fairly complex especially with converging and intersecting runways (Runways 12 and 9). We are forced to anticipate quite a bit to get departures out and without the lead time for TIPH it creates a wait and see situation. Will the aircraft go out around the corner? Will the lander make the first intersection? It's all guess work and watching to see if your assumptions are correct and it results in many go arounds. TIPH would offer much more positive control. To send a 747 around early in the morning can't be good for the foreign pilots who are probably fatigued after flying all night. TIPH allows for positive control. I can be assured the arrival has cleared the runway. I can be sure there is room for the next arrival to land after I roll the departure. This game of not allowing TIPH when staffing is at a certain number or when the ASDE-X is on or any one of many other criteria is stupid. This morning is just one example of TIPH creating a go around situation. The lead time to put the departure on the runway would have allowed the next aircraft to land.

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.