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The 2007 San Francisco International Airport runway incursion occurred around 1:36 p.m. PDT on May 26, 2007 when
SkyWest Airlines SkyWest Airlines is an American regional airline headquartered in St. George, Utah, United States. SkyWest is paid to staff, operate and maintain aircraft used on flights that are scheduled, marketed and sold by a partner mainline airline. Th ...
(operating as
United Express United Express is the brand name for the regional branch of United Airlines, under which six individually owned regional airlines operate short- and medium-haul feeder flights. On October 1, 2010, UAL Corporation and Continental Airlines merged t ...
) Flight 5741, an
Embraer EMB 120 Brasilia The Embraer EMB 120 Brasilia is a twin-turboprop 30-passenger commuter airliner designed and manufactured by the Brazilian aircraft manufacturer Embraer. The EMB 120 began development during 1974. While initially conceived as a modular series of ...
turboprop A turboprop is a turbine engine that drives an aircraft propeller. A turboprop consists of an intake, reduction gearbox, compressor, combustor, turbine, and a propelling nozzle. Air enters the intake and is compressed by the compressor. ...
aircraft, nearly collided with
Republic Airways Republic Airways Inc. is a regional airline subsidiary of Republic Airways Holdings that operates service as American Eagle, Delta Connection, and United Express using a fleet of Embraer 170 and Embraer 175 regional jets. It is headquart ...
(operating as
Frontier Airlines Frontier Airlines is a major ultra-low-cost U.S. airline headquartered in Denver, Colorado. It operates flights to over 100 destinations throughout the United States and 31 international destinations, and employs more than 3,000 staff. The ca ...
) Flight 4912, an Embraer 170 Regional Jet, at the intersection of Runways 1L and 28R at
San Francisco International Airport San Francisco International Airport is an international airport in an unincorporated area of San Mateo County, south of Downtown San Francisco. It has flights to points throughout North America and is a major gateway to Europe, the Middl ...
(SFO). There were no injuries to occupants and no damage to either aircraft.
Federal Aviation Administration The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is the largest transportation agency of the U.S. government and regulates all aspects of civil aviation in the country as well as over surrounding international waters. Its powers include air traffic ...
officials described the
runway incursion A runway incursion is an aviation incident involving improper positioning of vehicles or people on any airport runway or its protected area. When an incursion involves an ''active'' runway being used by arriving or departing aircraft, the poten ...
as the most serious incident of its kind in at least a decade, and the
National Transportation Safety Board The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is an independent U.S. government investigative agency responsible for civil transportation accident investigation. In this role, the NTSB investigates and reports on aviation accidents and inci ...
carried out an investigation into the incident.


Incident

The SkyWest aircraft was arriving at SFO after a flight from
Modesto, California Modesto () is the county seat and largest city of Stanislaus County, California, United States. With a population of 218,464 at the 2020 census, it is the 19th largest city in the state of California and forms part of the Sacramento-Stockton- ...
, and was cleared to land on Runway 28R. At the same time, the Republic Airlines aircraft, bound for
Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...
, was instructed to taxi into position and hold on the intersecting Runway 1L. As the landing SkyWest aircraft passed the runway threshold, the Republic Airlines aircraft was cleared for takeoff. Local procedures and
FAA Order 7110.65 FAA Order JO 7110.65 (aka point sixty-five or .65) is an FAA directive that prescribes air traffic control (ATC) procedures and phraseology for use by personnel providing ATC services in the USA. The current version and subsequent lettered versions ...
require the
local controller Air traffic control specialists, abbreviated ATCS, are personnel responsible for the safe, orderly, and expeditious flow of air traffic in the global air traffic control system. Usually stationed in air traffic control centers and control ...
to wait until the landing aircraft has passed through the intersection before clearing an aircraft for takeoff on one of the intersecting runways. Approximately 27 seconds later the
Airport Movement Area Safety System Airport surveillance and broadcast systems are a set of runway-safety tools that display aircraft on and near an airport. Airport Movement Area Safety System The Airport Movement Area Safety System (AMASS) visually and aurally prompts tower cont ...
issued an aural warning of an imminent collision, and the local controller instructed the SkyWest aircraft to stop, transmitting, "uh, sky-, skywest uhh fifty seven forty one HOLD HOLD HOLD." The SkyWest aircraft stopped in the intersection of Runways 1L and 28R, while the Republic Airlines flight lifted off and overflew it. The initial FAA
tower A tower is a tall structure, taller than it is wide, often by a significant factor. Towers are distinguished from masts by their lack of guy-wires and are therefore, along with tall buildings, self-supporting structures. Towers are specific ...
report estimated that the aircraft missed colliding by , but the SkyWest crew estimated the distance as to .


Investigation

The
Federal Aviation Administration The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is the largest transportation agency of the U.S. government and regulates all aspects of civil aviation in the country as well as over surrounding international waters. Its powers include air traffic ...
(FAA) classified the incident as a Category A
runway incursion A runway incursion is an aviation incident involving improper positioning of vehicles or people on any airport runway or its protected area. When an incursion involves an ''active'' runway being used by arriving or departing aircraft, the poten ...
, the most serious type. Category A events are those in which " paration decreases and participants take extreme action to narrowly avoid a collision, or the event results in a collision." Of the previous 15 runway incursions at SFO between 2001 and 2007, none had been more serious than Category C, which is defined as a situation in which " paration decreases but there is ample time and distance to avoid a potential collision." Commenting on the seriousness of the incident,
National Transportation Safety Board The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is an independent U.S. government investigative agency responsible for civil transportation accident investigation. In this role, the NTSB investigates and reports on aviation accidents and inci ...
(NTSB) spokesman Ted Lopatkiewicz noted that "We investigate probably just a handful (of incursions) a year." The NTSB's investigation was completed in November 2007, concluding that the controller had failed to provide adequate separation between the two aircraft. FAA spokesman Ian Gregor said, "This wasn't a procedural issue, this was caused by a good controller with a lot of experience making a mistake," adding that since the incursion the controller, who had over 20 years of experience, was recertified.


SFO and AMASS

Runway safety and prevention of runway incursions has been a priority concern for both the FAA and NTSB;FAA – Office of Runway Safety – Runway Safety Home
runway incursion
/ref> it has been on the NTSB's annual list of "Most Wanted Improvements" continuously since 1990.House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee : Press Release :: Aviation Subcommittee Holds Hearing on NTSB Safety Priorities
The Airport Movement Area Safety System (AMASS) is an
airport surveillance radar An airport surveillance radar (ASR) is a radar system used at airports to detect and display the presence and position of aircraft in the ''terminal area'', the airspace around airports. It is the main air traffic control system for the airspace ...
system that is designed to detect potential runway conflicts and alert controllers. SFO was selected by the FAA for the first test installation of the AMASS system, where it became operational in June 2001 before its rollout to 40 airports around the U.S.Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, House of Representatives
/ref> AMASS is designed to provide an alert 15 seconds before aircraft reach the conflict point. The system performed as designed in the incident at SFO, though it did not alert in time to prevent the runway incursion. The NTSB believes that AMASS is insufficient to prevent runway incursions.


Aftermath

In the end, N872RW continued to fly before it began operating under Delta Express. The EMB-120 involved would later be transferred to Menard Inc. under the registration of N957M. In 2018, the aircraft was stored.


See also

*
Runway incursion A runway incursion is an aviation incident involving improper positioning of vehicles or people on any airport runway or its protected area. When an incursion involves an ''active'' runway being used by arriving or departing aircraft, the poten ...
*
2005 Logan Airport runway incursion The 2005 Logan Airport runway incursion was a near-collision that occurred at approximately 7:40 p.m. EDT on June 9, 2005 between US Airways Flight 1170 (US1170) and Aer Lingus Flight 132 (EI132). EI132 was an Airbus A330-300 aircraft, ow ...
-a narrowly avoided runway incursion at Boston, Massachusetts caused by ATC error *
Air Canada Flight 759 On July 7, 2017, an Airbus A320-211 operating as Air Canada Flight 759 was nearly involved in an accident at San Francisco International Airport in San Mateo County, California, United States. The flight, which originated at Toronto Pearson I ...
—a narrowly avoided runway incursion at SFO in 2017


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:San Francisco International Airport Runway Incursion Runway incursions Aviation accidents and incidents involving the Embraer E-Jet family Accidents and incidents involving the Embraer EMB 120 Brasilia
2007 San Francisco International Airport runway incursion The 2007 San Francisco International Airport runway incursion occurred around 1:36 p.m. Pacific Time Zone, PDT on May 26, 2007 when SkyWest Airlines (operating as United Express) Flight 5741, an Embraer EMB 120 Brasilia turboprop aircraft, ...
San Francisco International Airport runway incursion Aviation accidents and incidents caused by air traffic controller error Airliner accidents and incidents in California 2007 in California May 2007 events in the United States