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Tower controller reported clearing several aircraft for takeoff on a closed runway; thinking the runway was open after sunrise. Reporter cited as contributing several equipment outages due to a lightning strike of the facility; and miscommunication. Failure of equipment to capture the recorded briefing clouded the issue.
| Attributes | |
| ACN | 971739 |
| Time | |
| Date | 201109 |
| Local Time Of Day | 1201-1800 |
| Place | |
| Locale Reference | ZZZ.Airport |
| State Reference | US |
| Aircraft 1 | |
| Make Model Name | Any Unknown or Unlisted Aircraft Manufacturer |
| Flight Phase | Initial Climb |
| Route In Use | None |
| Person 1 | |
| Function | Local |
| Qualification | Air Traffic Control Fully Certified |
| Person 2 | |
| Function | Supervisor / CIC |
| Qualification | Air Traffic Control Fully Certified |
| Events | |
| Anomaly | ATC Issue All Types Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy Ground Event / Encounter Other / Unknown Ground Incursion Runway |
Narrative:
The tower experienced a direct a lightning hit the previous evening which knocked out numerous pieces of equipment. I was working local control 1 position. We were not using xxr for departures until sunrise. I assumed that the reason we were not using xxr was because some lighting was out of service and that once sunrise happened we would be good to use the runway. After five or so departures the airport authority called the tower to inquire about why we were using a runway that was NOTAM'ed closed. It was at this point that I realized the xxr restriction was not internal but rather external. I immediately stopped using xxr. I reported the incidents to management. [We should] develop a backup plan to be used during incidents when status information areas are out of service
Original NASA ASRS Text
Title: Tower Controller reported clearing several aircraft for takeoff on a closed runway; thinking the runway was open after sunrise. Reporter cited as contributing several equipment outages due to a lightning strike of the facility; and miscommunication. Failure of equipment to capture the recorded briefing clouded the issue.
Narrative: The Tower experienced a direct a lightning hit the previous evening which knocked out numerous pieces of equipment. I was working Local Control 1 position. We were not using XXR for departures until sunrise. I assumed that the reason we were not using XXR was because some lighting was out of service and that once sunrise happened we would be good to use the runway. After five or so departures the Airport Authority called the tower to inquire about why we were using a runway that was NOTAM'ed closed. It was at this point that I realized the XXR restriction was not internal but rather external. I immediately stopped using XXR. I reported the incidents to management. [We should] develop a backup plan to be used during incidents when status information areas are out of service
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.