Narrative:

I was working local. Runway xx was active with three inbounds and three outbound. One outbound was a flight of two fighter jets waiting to depart runway yy. I had advised them of a delay due to inbound and outbound traffic opposite direction; and was adjusting traffic to get them on the way. One aircraft was lifting off; one about to touch down; and a helicopter on right downwind for runway xx. I instructed the helicopter to make a left 360 in the downwind; waited for the cirrus to roll past the arresting cable; [then] raised the cable; shipped the departing aircraft to departure; coordinated with departure for a runway yy departure; and then aircraft X called ready to depart on runway xx. I decide to let him go first so he would not have a wake turbulence delay. I waited for the first cirrus to turn off the runway; cleared aircraft X for takeoff; [and] cleared the helicopter to land [and told to] expect to exit runway xx as soon as possible for the fighter jets to depart runway yy. Aircraft X lifted off and advised that the cable was up [and] he had hit it slightly [he] felt everything was okay; but wished to land and check his plane. I gave him left traffic and cleared him to land behind the helicopter; lowered the cable; advised the fighter jets there would be a further delay to check the cable; and advised departure that I would call them back for re-coordination of the departing fighter jets. Aircraft X landed safely. The cable was checked immediately (okay). The fighter jets were then cleared for takeoff with coordination. [A] short time later aircraft X taxied back out for takeoff; confirming no damage. I have no recommendation. The arresting cable has an alarm that warns us after a few seconds that it is still up; but that few seconds had not expired yet. It was purely a mistake on my part due to a change of plans during a rush of traffic with a bit of complexity. Had I departed the fighter jets first; I would have lowered the cable as soon as the second fighter jet was airborne; then cleared the helicopter to land with a wake turbulence caution; and waited out the three minutes to clear aircraft X.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Tower Controller described an 'arresting cable' strike by departing Cirrus; the reporter states his change of plans and a rush of traffic as contributors to his mistake.

Narrative: I was working Local. Runway XX was active with three inbounds and three outbound. One outbound was a flight of two fighter jets waiting to depart Runway YY. I had advised them of a delay due to inbound and outbound traffic opposite direction; and was adjusting traffic to get them on the way. One aircraft was lifting off; one about to touch down; and a helicopter on right downwind for Runway XX. I instructed the helicopter to make a left 360 in the downwind; waited for the Cirrus to roll past the arresting cable; [then] raised the cable; shipped the departing aircraft to Departure; coordinated with Departure for a Runway YY departure; and then aircraft X called ready to depart on Runway XX. I decide to let him go first so he would not have a wake turbulence delay. I waited for the first Cirrus to turn off the runway; cleared aircraft X for takeoff; [and] cleared the helicopter to land [and told to] expect to exit Runway XX as soon as possible for the fighter jets to depart Runway YY. Aircraft X lifted off and advised that the cable was up [and] he had hit it slightly [He] felt everything was okay; but wished to land and check his plane. I gave him left traffic and cleared him to land behind the helicopter; lowered the cable; advised the fighter jets there would be a further delay to check the cable; and advised Departure that I would call them back for re-coordination of the departing fighter jets. Aircraft X landed safely. The cable was checked immediately (okay). The fighter jets were then cleared for takeoff with coordination. [A] short time later aircraft X taxied back out for takeoff; confirming no damage. I have no recommendation. The arresting cable has an alarm that warns us after a few seconds that it is still up; but that few seconds had not expired yet. It was purely a mistake on my part due to a change of plans during a rush of traffic with a bit of complexity. Had I departed the fighter jets first; I would have lowered the cable as soon as the second fighter jet was airborne; then cleared the helicopter to land with a wake turbulence caution; and waited out the three minutes to clear aircraft X.

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.