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Air carrier departure from runway 15L at iah voiced concern regarding traffic departing runway 15R simultaneously without and ATC notification; the reporter recommended staggering departures in these types of operations.
| Attributes | |
| ACN | 1005448 |
| Time | |
| Date | 201204 |
| Local Time Of Day | 1201-1800 |
| Place | |
| Locale Reference | HOU.Airport |
| State Reference | TX |
| Environment | |
| Flight Conditions | VMC |
| Aircraft 1 | |
| Make Model Name | B737-800 |
| Operating Under FAR Part | Part 121 |
| Flight Phase | Takeoff |
| Flight Plan | IFR |
| Aircraft 2 | |
| Make Model Name | Commercial Fixed Wing |
| Operating Under FAR Part | Part 121 |
| Flight Phase | Takeoff |
| Flight Plan | IFR |
| Person 1 | |
| Function | Pilot Not Flying Captain |
| Qualification | Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP) |
| Events | |
| Anomaly | ATC Issue All Types Ground Event / Encounter Other / Unknown |
Narrative:
[We] departed runway 15L at iah. During takeoff roll; we noticed a regional jet on 15R conducting a simultaneous takeoff roll; just slightly ahead of us. As part of our takeoff clearance; we were assigned a left turn to a 120 heading. Most traffic departing 15R was being assigned right turns to northeasterly headings; long way around turns of greater than 180 degrees. Our two aircraft were wing tip to wing tip until leaving 400 ft. While it may be perfectly legal; this simultaneous; close parallel takeoff procedure is extremely disconcerting for the following reasons: tower did not advise us of the parallel traffic; a loss of an engine or a flight control problem on either aircraft could have been disastrous for both. The long-way-around turns assigned to 15R departures can easily result in inadvertent; unintentional turns into the 15L aircraft. If we had been aware that a regional jet would be simultaneously departing; we may have chosen to briefly delay our departure. This practice may be legal; but with the runways so close together; its safety is questionable. Suggestions; iah tower should consider staggering departures off these closely spaced runways.
Original NASA ASRS Text
Title: Air Carrier departure from Runway 15L at IAH voiced concern regarding traffic departing Runway 15R simultaneously without and ATC notification; the reporter recommended staggering departures in these types of operations.
Narrative: [We] departed Runway 15L at IAH. During takeoff roll; we noticed a Regional Jet on 15R conducting a simultaneous takeoff roll; just slightly ahead of us. As part of our takeoff clearance; we were assigned a left turn to a 120 heading. Most traffic departing 15R was being assigned right turns to northeasterly headings; long way around turns of greater than 180 degrees. Our two aircraft were wing tip to wing tip until leaving 400 FT. While it may be perfectly legal; this simultaneous; close parallel takeoff procedure is extremely disconcerting for the following reasons: Tower did not advise us of the parallel traffic; a loss of an engine or a flight control problem on either aircraft could have been disastrous for both. The long-way-around turns assigned to 15R departures can easily result in inadvertent; unintentional turns into the 15L aircraft. If we had been aware that a Regional Jet would be simultaneously departing; we may have chosen to briefly delay our departure. This practice may be legal; but with the runways so close together; its safety is questionable. Suggestions; IAH Tower should consider staggering departures off these closely spaced runways.
Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2013 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.