AVIATION/ NTSB REPORTS ON US AIRWAYS FL1848

The NTSB has issued its Final Report on a near collision between a US AIRWAYS A320 and a BEMIDJI AVIATION SERVICES Beech 99 over Minneapolis, Minnesota, on September 13, 2010. On that date, US Airways Flight 1848, with 90 passengers and 5 crew members onboard, was cleared for takeoff from the runway 030R at the Minneapolis/St Paul International Airport. At the same time, Bemidji Aviation Services Flight 46, on Cargo Service to La Crosse, Wisconsin, with 1 Pilot onboard, was cleared for takeoff from the runway 030L at MSP. Weather conditions at that time were overcast cloud ceiling at 900 feet and 10nm visibility below the clouds.Immediately after departure, Air Traffic Control instructed Flight 1848 to turn left and head west which caused the Airbus to cross the extended center line of runway 030L and conflict with the Beech 99 at about 6:49am, local time. Neither pilot saw the other aircraft because of being in cloud, however the US Airways Captain heard the Beech 99 passing nearby. Srhortly after the incident, the NTSB estimated the minimum separation between the aircraft reduced to "50 to 100 feet of vertical separation as they passed each other approximately 1500 feet above the ground".  The NTSB did not say whether any lateral separation remained, however this will be released with radar plots, when the docket is  made public. They also reported that the crew of the Airbus received TCAS resolution advisories to climb. The Beech 99 was not equipped with TCAS, thus the Pilot remained unaware of the immediate presence of the Airbus. In their Final Report, the NTSB says that the US Airways flight was under the control of the Local North Controller, while the Bemidji Beech was under the control of the Local South Controller. With that in mind, the NTSB Probable Cause of the incident was: "The Local North Controller's issuance of a left-turn heading to the Airbus without establishing the position and heading of the Beech. Contributing to the incident was the Local South Controller's distraction with a ground movement operation and lack of awareness of the Beech's heading and the impending conflict. Also contributing to the incident was the Beech's delayed turn to the assigned departure heading". Although the MSP made 3 corrective actions following the incident, another loss of seperation occurred on November 11, 2011, with 2 aircraft departing from the runways 030R and 030L and both were put on a heading of 260. The seperation between the 2 aircraft in this incidence was noted as 1.85nm lateral and 100 feet vertical. After this incident, the MSP Airport changed procedures once again. The full NTSB Report on the US Airways and Bemidji Beech incident, including a detailed report on events as they unfolded, will be posted soon on the NTSB website.