What this reporter and the Commercial Appeal refuse to print for some reason, is that the Controllers informed the Tower Supervisor that they were going to "break-out" several aircraft due to the pending loss of separation. The Control Tower Supervisor ordered the Controllers to "let 'em land". This was admitted to by the Supervisor; the order was witnessed by other Controllers in the Tower Cab; was documented in the investigation; and was published in the FAA ATO Daily report of Operational Errors.
Had the Controllers been allowed to break-out the FDX aircraft at the first indication that separation was being lost, the other errors would not have happened.
MEM_ATC
Originally Posted by
MEM_ATC
Decertifications in air tower
Two controllers, one supervisor cited
Two air traffic controllers and a supervisor have been decertified as a result of errors that caused three planes at Memphis International Airport to land too close together in mid-February.