Haven't seen anything posted about this incident that happened back in June. From the video and ATC communications it appears the tower cleared a van to cross runway 14 as an Envoy ERJ145 was rolling down the runway for takeoff. It was a very close call and thankfully didn't result in any lives lost. However 100% preventable. Video and incident report from the van driver posted below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E39dVmh7f1M

Crazy. The van driver appeared to have permission to cross, but probably should never do so without visually checking as well.

Great find. Thanks for sharing. Amazing video.

This is about to air on ABC news

I don't care if that van was cleared to cross both runways, that driver should have looked and I'm not sure how it's possible to NOT look crossing an active runway. Any one that is authorized to operate a van on the field should be somewhat familiar with the flight schedule at SGF - there simply aren't that many mid-day departures. I and while it does sound like ground cleared them across both runways it appears not a single passenger looked either.

This was seconds away from a complete disaster.

It's important to note here that the GROUND controller cleared the van to cross the runway. The van had a fixed-channel radio with which he could only contact the ground controller. For clearance to cross an active runway, the procedure is that the ground controller is supposed to contact the TOWER controller to obtain that clearance, then relay it to the ground vehicle. It appears that didn't happen and that the ground controller either forgot 14 was active or forgot that he had just taxied out the Envoy jet or assumed that it had already departed.

Considering the short amount of time that passed between when the van was given permission to clear 20 and when it was given permission to cross 14, I think it's really unlikely the ground controller made the call to tower.

So yes, it is the Ground Controller's fault, but there are mitigating factors:

1. The van did not NEED to be crossing the active runway. It was just carrying workers to an employee party on the other side of the field. They could have gone around the active runway.
2. The van did not visually confirm that 14 was clear.
3. The van could only contact ground frequency. I'm sure there is a security aspect to this, but perhaps such vehicles should either also be given access to the tower frequency so that they can get direct clearance to be on active runways or perhaps vehicles that cannot contact tower should be barred from entering active runways.

FlyingJhawk wrote:

I don't care if that van was cleared to cross both runways, that driver should have looked and I'm not sure how it's possible to NOT look crossing an active runway. Any one that is authorized to operate a van on the field should be somewhat familiar with the flight schedule at SGF - there simply aren't that many mid-day departures. I and while it does sound like ground cleared them across both runways it appears not a single passenger looked either.

This was seconds away from a complete disaster.

The sight lines from a van are much lower than from just about any airplane. I’ve driven around on many ramps, taxiways, and even runways and seeing a mile or two down the runway is tough when you factor in elevation changes, tall grass, and even heat haze. Airplanes also blend in very well to the background picture at an airport (hangars, buildings, and other airplanes). It’s likely that even if they had looked, the jet could be hard to spot. Hence the reason air traffic controllers exist in elevated towers to give clearances; they can see all of the important parts of the airfield. Blaming this on the van driver is blaming the victim here; this was definitely an ATC flub. If I’m given the clearance to cross, I’ll still look; but the responsibility is still the controller’s to ensure the runway is clear and to not command me to cross when there is conflicting traffic.

drdisque wrote:

It's important to note here that the GROUND controller cleared the van to cross the runway. The van had a fixed-channel radio with which he could only contact the ground controller. For clearance to cross an active runway, the procedure is that the ground controller is supposed to contact the TOWER controller to obtain that clearance, then relay it to the ground vehicle. It appears that didn't happen and that the ground controller either forgot 14 was active or forgot that he had just taxied out the Envoy jet or assumed that it had already departed.

Considering the short amount of time that passed between when the van was given permission to clear 20 and when it was given permission to cross 14, I think it's really unlikely the ground controller made the call to tower.

So yes, it is the Ground Controller's fault, but there are mitigating factors:

1. The van did not NEED to be crossing the active runway. It was just carrying workers to an employee party on the other side of the field. They could have gone around the active runway.
2. The van did not visually confirm that 14 was clear.
3. The van could only contact ground frequency. I'm sure there is a security aspect to this, but perhaps such vehicles should either also be given access to the tower frequency so that they can get direct clearance to be on active runways or perhaps vehicles that cannot contact tower should be barred from entering active runways.

Spot on!...Any vehicle on an active runway MUST be on tower frequency. This would never have happened if he had asked permission to cross from the same tower controller that had just cleared Envoy for takeoff. Plain and simple. In addition, the Envoy pilots would have heard all pertinent communications with that vehicle while commencing their takeoff roll. Total ATC and airport operations failure. Could easily have been 50+ fatalities if 3 seconds later. Very frightening to see.