Narrative:

I was providing OJT at the time of this event; staffing was short and a front line manager (flm) was working ground control so training could be accomplished. There was a nice mixed arrival/departure push and my developmental was doing a good job. Ground control taxied several aircraft to runway 17L and 17R; and then ground control taxied an aircraft to runway 17L for an intersection juliet departure. This is not unusual; however I have encouraged my developmental to disapprove intersection departures when things get busy. It has been my impression that these departures create situations where controllers get into trouble with wake turbulence; and also aircraft trying to clear at the intersection where another aircraft are holding for departure. I examined the flight progress strips (fsp) and noted that a C402 had '17L/J' written on the fsp. Our SOP requires this type of strip-marking. Our SOP also requires that ground control verbally notify local control when an aircraft has been taxied to an intersection for departure; although I am unable to recall if this was accomplished. It was dark; I could see an aircraft at the intersection of runway 17L and taxiway juliet; but I could not ascertain the exact type. I made an assumption that this was the C402; and the developmental also believed that this was the C402; as we discussed launching the C402 next so that there would be no wake turbulence issues with the succeeding aircraft. A PA28 landed and turned off of runway 17L at kilo. I distinctly remember the developmental clearing the C402 for takeoff from intersection juliet; as I was listening for the proper phraseology. I have a vague recollection of the C402 reading back the clearance as it was issued; but I'm just not certain as I write this report. There was traffic on final to runway 17L and 17R; and the developmental and I were both looking at the aircraft located at the intersection of runway 17L and taxiway juliet. The plan was to roll a shrike commander from the approach end as soon as we had the required runway separation or airborne and turning to avert. We both thought that the shrike commander was at the approach end of runway 17L. Then an air carrier made a transmission on the frequency asking if we had just rolled someone from intersection juliet. There was something unusual in the pilot's voice; so I quickly keyed the microphone and said 'yes! What do you see?' the pilot said that there was another aircraft rolling from the approach end of runway 17L. I scanned back down the runway; north of juliet where the C402 was supposed to be departing; and I saw another aircraft rolling at a fairly high rate of speed. In my mind; the C402 was slow rounding the corner of juliet; and I thought that another aircraft had taken the C402's clearance. I feared that the C402 was about to pull-out in front of this other departing aircraft. Then I thought that I really didn't know who any of these aircraft were; so I made another transmission that was something like 'everyone stop... Stop... Stop... Cancel your takeoff clearance!' the departing aircraft aborted its takeoff and stopped just short of juliet. I made a transmission asking who was on the runway; and learned that it was indeed the C402. Then I asked who was holding short of runway 17L on juliet; and learned that this was the shrike commander. I told the C402 that our fsp indicated that he was departing from juliet; and that my developmental had cleared him for takeoff from juliet. The C402 made some type of acknowledgment; but I don't recall what was said. Ground control looked at the fsps and realized that he had marked the wrong strip; and we all realized what had happened. The C402 elected to continue and depart from his current position on the runway; the shrike commander then departed; then I thanked and cleared the air carrier for takeoff. If staffing had permitted; we would have had a stand-alone flm/controller in charge; and thus would have been allowed to use line-up and wait (luaw) procedures. If luaw had been in effect; my developmental would have immediately issued luaw instructions to the shrike commander after clearing the C402 for takeoff; and there is a great possibility that we would have experienced a runway collision. We would have witnessed two aircraft rounding the corner from two different locations; with the departing aircraft in back and rolling for departure. As it was; nothing would have happened if the C402 had been allowed to depart. However; since I could not be 100% certain that something bad was not about to happen; I attempted to stop everyone until things could be sorted-out and identified. The pilot of the air carrier should be commended for speaking-up and notifying us that he thought something was amiss; as this is truly representative of the 'if you see it; say it' concept. Recommendation; I don't like intersection departures. While working ground control; I never taxi aircraft to an intersection for departure if there are any other aircraft on final; or any other aircraft taxiing-out for full-length departures. The way I approach this; is that I'm trying to protect my local control. I do not want local control to be forced to deal with a wake turbulence issue; or deal with blocked taxiways if local control needs an arriving aircraft to exit the runway quickly to hit a gap. When I am working local control by myself without a developmental; I have no problem with telling ground control to taxi aircraft for full-length departures; as I want to protect myself for the above mentioned reasons. I catch hell for this attitude and technique from my peers; but I really don't care what they have to say; I'm protecting me. I will now mandate that my developmental adopt my technique; whereas in the past I have allowed the developmental to handle intersection departures in any manner that the 7110.65 allowed. I will verbally ask any future intersection departures to verify their location before issuing a departure from that intersection.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Tower Controller providing OJT described a confused night time intersection take off event when uncertainty prompted the reporter to issue a 'STOP STOP' clearance to everyone in order to clarify each aircraft's position.

Narrative: I was providing OJT at the time of this event; staffing was short and a Front Line Manager (FLM) was working Ground Control so training could be accomplished. There was a nice mixed arrival/departure push and my Developmental was doing a good job. Ground Control taxied several aircraft to Runway 17L and 17R; and then Ground Control taxied an aircraft to Runway 17L for an intersection Juliet departure. This is not unusual; however I have encouraged my Developmental to disapprove intersection departures when things get busy. It has been my impression that these departures create situations where controllers get into trouble with wake turbulence; and also aircraft trying to clear at the intersection where another aircraft are holding for departure. I examined the Flight Progress Strips (FSP) and noted that a C402 had '17L/J' written on the FSP. Our SOP requires this type of strip-marking. Our SOP also requires that Ground Control verbally notify Local Control when an aircraft has been taxied to an intersection for departure; although I am unable to recall if this was accomplished. It was dark; I could see an aircraft at the intersection of Runway 17L and Taxiway Juliet; but I could not ascertain the exact type. I made an assumption that this was the C402; and the Developmental also believed that this was the C402; as we discussed launching the C402 next so that there would be no wake turbulence issues with the succeeding aircraft. A PA28 landed and turned off of Runway 17L at Kilo. I distinctly remember the Developmental clearing the C402 for takeoff from Intersection Juliet; as I was listening for the proper phraseology. I have a vague recollection of the C402 reading back the clearance as it was issued; but I'm just not certain as I write this report. There was traffic on final to Runway 17L and 17R; and the Developmental and I were both looking at the aircraft located at the intersection of Runway 17L and Taxiway Juliet. The plan was to roll a Shrike Commander from the approach end as soon as we had the required runway separation or airborne and turning to avert. We both thought that the Shrike Commander was at the approach end of Runway 17L. Then an air carrier made a transmission on the frequency asking if we had just rolled someone from Intersection Juliet. There was something unusual in the pilot's voice; so I quickly keyed the microphone and said 'YES! What do you see?' The pilot said that there was another aircraft rolling from the approach end of Runway 17L. I scanned back down the runway; north of Juliet where the C402 was supposed to be departing; and I saw another aircraft rolling at a fairly high rate of speed. In my mind; the C402 was slow rounding the corner of Juliet; and I thought that another aircraft had taken the C402's clearance. I feared that the C402 was about to pull-out in front of this other departing aircraft. Then I thought that I really didn't know who any of these aircraft were; so I made another transmission that was something like 'EVERYONE STOP... STOP... STOP... CANCEL YOUR TAKEOFF CLEARANCE!' The departing aircraft aborted its takeoff and stopped just short of Juliet. I made a transmission asking who was on the runway; and learned that it was indeed the C402. Then I asked who was holding short of Runway 17L on Juliet; and learned that this was the Shrike Commander. I told the C402 that our FSP indicated that he was departing from Juliet; and that my Developmental had cleared him for takeoff from Juliet. The C402 made some type of acknowledgment; but I don't recall what was said. Ground Control looked at the FSPs and realized that he had marked the wrong strip; and we all realized what had happened. The C402 elected to continue and depart from his current position on the runway; the Shrike Commander then departed; then I thanked and cleared the air carrier for takeoff. If staffing had permitted; we would have had a stand-alone FLM/CIC; and thus would have been allowed to use Line-Up And Wait (LUAW) procedures. If LUAW had been in effect; my Developmental would have immediately issued LUAW instructions to the Shrike Commander after clearing the C402 for takeoff; and there is a great possibility that we would have experienced a runway collision. We would have witnessed two aircraft rounding the corner from two different locations; with the departing aircraft in back and rolling for departure. As it was; nothing would have happened if the C402 had been allowed to depart. However; since I could not be 100% certain that something bad was not about to happen; I attempted to stop everyone until things could be sorted-out and identified. The pilot of the air carrier should be commended for speaking-up and notifying us that he thought something was amiss; as this is truly representative of the 'If you see it; say it' concept. Recommendation; I don't like intersection departures. While working Ground Control; I never taxi aircraft to an intersection for departure if there are any other aircraft on final; or any other aircraft taxiing-out for full-length departures. The way I approach this; is that I'm trying to protect my Local Control. I do not want Local Control to be forced to deal with a wake turbulence issue; or deal with blocked taxiways if Local Control needs an arriving aircraft to exit the runway quickly to hit a gap. When I am working Local Control by myself without a Developmental; I have no problem with telling Ground Control to taxi aircraft for full-length departures; as I want to protect myself for the above mentioned reasons. I catch hell for this attitude and technique from my peers; but I really don't care what they have to say; I'm protecting ME. I will now mandate that my Developmental adopt my technique; whereas in the past I have allowed the developmental to handle intersection departures in any manner that the 7110.65 allowed. I will verbally ask any future intersection departures to verify their location before issuing a departure from that intersection.

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.