My third night of Ground Control training on the FDX midnight shift took place
last Wednesday night. MEM was in a
South Configuration utilizing 18L, 18R and 27 for arrival traffic.
Under this configuration, Runway 27 is
combined with Ground Control, and only aircraft that meet certain
tail height requirements may land on Runway 27. Additionally, traffic information
must be exchanged between all aircraft landing Runway 18L and Runway 27.
In the event of a Runway 27 go-around, that aircraft will generally be issued an
immediate left turn heading 230 (right towards the Control Tower) and climbed to 2,000 or 3,000 depending on what other traffic is in the vicinity. Everyone in the Tower immediately yells "GO AROUND RUNWAY 27!", and the other Local Controller starts issuing traffic to his 18L and 18R arrivals so as to obtain and/or provide visual separation.
The worst thing that could happen, would be to have Runway 27 and 18L go around at the same time.
THE INBOUND
From the Tower perspective, and Ground Control in particular, the inbound was relatively uneventful. This was my first time working this specific configuration on the midnight shift, so the usual spooling-up to the subtle differences was present.
A few General Aviation aircraft taxied out of Wilson Aviation during the outbound. My trainer said that most of these aircraft would be taxiied to Runway 18L via taxiway Yankee so that the Local Controller could "hit the gap" between arrivals. This would avoid Runway 18C as the departure runway, and most importantly, keep Taxiways Sierra and Charlie open for FDX arrival aircraft to continue their taxi to the FDX ramp.
The Local Controller decided that she didn't want the departures on 18L, so I taxied the GA aircraft to 18C via "Yankee - Alpha - Bravo hold short of Sierra", with the anticipation that these guys would be departed ASAP and open Bravo and Sierra for my use.
Well, that didn't happen. The first aircraft was told by Local Control to taxi up to Runway 18C, and this blocked Sierra. The second was still sitting on Bravo. The FDX arrivals continued to land on Runway 18L and pile-up on Taxiway Sierra while waiting for the taxiway to clear.
This finally cleared up with the Local Controller after some
peer pressure and friendly harassment was tossed about in the Tower Cab.
The Final Controllers were running
very tight and beautiful finals to both runways with minimum separation. When Large Aircraft were involved, we can go down to 2.5 miles on the final. When the Tower can provide Visual Separation, the separation may be reduced even further, as long as there is confidence that the preceding aircraft will clear the runway prior to the arrival crossing the runway threshold.
On one instance involving two B727's inbound to 18L, the spacing was already under 2.5 miles with the Local Controller providing Visual Separation. Unfortunately, this Controller did
not do anything to
ensure that this situation would resolve itself. Possible options included: asking the 2nd aircraft for a quick "S-Turn" to the left... reduce to final approach speed... prime the first aircraft for minimum time on the runway... or even taking one aircraft to 18C. Instead, the 2nd aircraft was "sent around" without so much as any effort to make the situation work. Very embarassing in my opinion, but different Controllers have varying abilities to deal with these situations, and some just lack the motivation.
THE OUTBOUND
The outbound went about as smooth as the previous night, which means that I am still a little rough around the edges!
I'm still suffering from being awake at 3:00 a.m.; adjusting to the sea of lights and getting comfortable with the FDX Spots and
exactly which runway and route these aircraft should utilize.
We were departing 18L, 18R and 27, so
every FDX aircraft must cross an
active runway. The complexity and coordination is very intense. All eyes are focused on the aircraft holding in position and the numerous aircraft that may be crossing at November, Charlie, Sierra, Bravo, Yankee and Alpha-1.
A Cab Coordinator position was open during the outbound, and he ran the show with regards to rolling aircraft on Runway 27 and all active runway crossings.
As a general rule, the Cab Coordinator would tell the Local Controller to "roll two on Runway 27". Just like on the bridge of a naval vessel, the Local Controller echos the command, and then everyone in the Tower Cab echos the command as well. I thought that this was silly when I first started, but have grown to appreciate the fact that everyone is onboard with what is happening.
With Spots 4 and 5 at the approach end of Runway 27, the Local Controller may take his pick of rolling a B727 or one of the many Heavy Jets. The B727 will
always go first so as to avoid any wake turbulence issues.
Once the 2nd aircraft rolls on Runway 27, the Cab Coordinator starts issuing crossing instructions as the departing aircraft passes each taxiway. "Cross two Heavies at Taxiway Yankee... cross the Airbus at Bravo... cross the Boeing at Sierra... cross the two Heavies at Charlie and November!" And the echo of commands is heard around the Tower. And the two Ground Controllers empty thier taxiways and cross Runway 27 enroute to 18L and 18R.
The Cab Coordinator will eventually ask, "All Runway 27 crossings complete?", to which the Ground Controllers will respond with specific Taxiway names and the fact that their crossings are complete or still in progress. And the departure process starts all over again.
I'll probably be back for two more nights of Ground Control training this week, and hopefully receive a "Check Ride" next week.
MEM_ATC