Teller1900
En-Route
...ASK the tower!
We were in the back of the seemingly endless line of planes trying to get the heck out of Newark night before last when we got to listen in on a very unfortunate exchange between a freight dawg and Newark tower (I'm sure it can all be found on liveATC, I just haven't had time to go find it - 21 Jan at 2150ish local).
Wiggins 17-something-something, a Cessna Caravan, made a decently soft landing on runway 11 and received instructions to keep it rolling through the 22R intersection, make a right on Papa, and hold short of Yankee. Not too difficult. Now at this point, EWR was departing all traffic from 22R at intersection Whiskey and landing 22L. This means R, S, A, and B are all full of planes trying to get to the intersection of W and R, and thus to the runway, which is why it was a pretty big problem when he exited runway 11 on Romeo. Being head to head with a heavy 757 and no way out isn't someplace most people would want to be.
As soon as he started to make the turn, whichever plane was at the head of the line keyed their mic and said "you were supposed to cross 22R." Unfortunately the tower controller was busy spacing a couple planes on final and missed the call until the Van driver had already completed the turn. Rather than fessing up at this point, the Van driver remained silent until the tower figured out what had happened and told him to make a 180, right turn onto 11, and hold short of 22R for departing traffic. The Van's read back was atrocious, and barely understandable, but he did at least say the words "hold short" and "22R".
Nevertheless he headed right out onto 11 and across 22R. Almost as soon as he made the turn onto 11, the first plane in line advised the tower that "he's crossing 22R!"
This caused a problem. Not only had he been told to hold short, there was a 757 on 22R, not more than a couple hundred feet from this unfortunate Van, that had just been cleared for takeoff. The tower yelled at him to stop a few times, but he didn't seem to get the hint until he was right behind the 75-. This pilot, already having a pretty bad night, just found out what wake turbulence really means.
The 757 got off the ground with no problem, but the problems for the Cessna were only just begining. The tower finally got him to finish crossing 22R and onto Papa where he told the pilot to "just stop there." The next thing tower said was "any Port Authority vehicles on my frequency?" Ouch. Bad night for the freight dawg.
About ten minutes pass and the Tower has traffic moving on all three runways again. The Van is still parked just south of 11 on Papa. We're number 6 for departure. Then suddenly the Van driver gets brave (stupid?). "Newark Tower, Wiggins 17[something-something], on Papa holding short of Whiskey."
Oh buddy...just be quiet for a while. "Yeah, just hold there!" The tower snaps. Well, long story slighty shorter; it's another 10-15 minutes before a Port Authority vehicle arrives on Papa to escort the Caravan to his parking spot at the FedEx ramp. It was no surprise to anyone on the frequency that the ground controller had "a phone number for [him] to copy due to a possible pilot deviation."
The moral of the story? When in doubt, especially when there are (multiple) runways involved, ASK THE TOWER. It's the same thing controllers have emphasized on every tour I've ever taken. They may sound a little snippy if they're busy, but they'd much rather have you ask for clarification or progressive taxi than have you wonder onto a runway or head to head with another plane. That's doubly true for single pilot operations that don't have the bennefit of someone who can keep their head on the taxi diagram.
We were in the back of the seemingly endless line of planes trying to get the heck out of Newark night before last when we got to listen in on a very unfortunate exchange between a freight dawg and Newark tower (I'm sure it can all be found on liveATC, I just haven't had time to go find it - 21 Jan at 2150ish local).
Wiggins 17-something-something, a Cessna Caravan, made a decently soft landing on runway 11 and received instructions to keep it rolling through the 22R intersection, make a right on Papa, and hold short of Yankee. Not too difficult. Now at this point, EWR was departing all traffic from 22R at intersection Whiskey and landing 22L. This means R, S, A, and B are all full of planes trying to get to the intersection of W and R, and thus to the runway, which is why it was a pretty big problem when he exited runway 11 on Romeo. Being head to head with a heavy 757 and no way out isn't someplace most people would want to be.
As soon as he started to make the turn, whichever plane was at the head of the line keyed their mic and said "you were supposed to cross 22R." Unfortunately the tower controller was busy spacing a couple planes on final and missed the call until the Van driver had already completed the turn. Rather than fessing up at this point, the Van driver remained silent until the tower figured out what had happened and told him to make a 180, right turn onto 11, and hold short of 22R for departing traffic. The Van's read back was atrocious, and barely understandable, but he did at least say the words "hold short" and "22R".
Nevertheless he headed right out onto 11 and across 22R. Almost as soon as he made the turn onto 11, the first plane in line advised the tower that "he's crossing 22R!"
This caused a problem. Not only had he been told to hold short, there was a 757 on 22R, not more than a couple hundred feet from this unfortunate Van, that had just been cleared for takeoff. The tower yelled at him to stop a few times, but he didn't seem to get the hint until he was right behind the 75-. This pilot, already having a pretty bad night, just found out what wake turbulence really means.
The 757 got off the ground with no problem, but the problems for the Cessna were only just begining. The tower finally got him to finish crossing 22R and onto Papa where he told the pilot to "just stop there." The next thing tower said was "any Port Authority vehicles on my frequency?" Ouch. Bad night for the freight dawg.
About ten minutes pass and the Tower has traffic moving on all three runways again. The Van is still parked just south of 11 on Papa. We're number 6 for departure. Then suddenly the Van driver gets brave (stupid?). "Newark Tower, Wiggins 17[something-something], on Papa holding short of Whiskey."
Oh buddy...just be quiet for a while. "Yeah, just hold there!" The tower snaps. Well, long story slighty shorter; it's another 10-15 minutes before a Port Authority vehicle arrives on Papa to escort the Caravan to his parking spot at the FedEx ramp. It was no surprise to anyone on the frequency that the ground controller had "a phone number for [him] to copy due to a possible pilot deviation."
The moral of the story? When in doubt, especially when there are (multiple) runways involved, ASK THE TOWER. It's the same thing controllers have emphasized on every tour I've ever taken. They may sound a little snippy if they're busy, but they'd much rather have you ask for clarification or progressive taxi than have you wonder onto a runway or head to head with another plane. That's doubly true for single pilot operations that don't have the bennefit of someone who can keep their head on the taxi diagram.
Fair enough. I didn't think you were leading but I wasn't quite sure...figured I'd ask! I'll let you know what else (aviation related) I come up at 3am.
Yes hon, I read all those note thingy's and uncover the sheet on my knee board to show her my list.