Narrative:

Upon arriving at anc for my shift; I was last person to cab; so got to work controller in charge/clearance delivery duties. When the next person arrived; I opened clearance delivery as a stand alone position. We had one cpc scheduled for [to come in 2 hours later]. Normal staffing is 6 cpc's and a flm. Seeing that we were short staffed until [halfway through the shift] when we would receive a flm and cpcit; I combined controller in charge and clearance delivery for short breaks knowing that lhd would need to be open [in 90 minutes]. I received several phone calls from the state of alaska in regards to construction that was about to start. Taxiways were open; then not open; runway 7L was scheduled to close. I made the ATIS adding all of the closures including runway 25R (15/25 configuration). I announced the new code and stated runway 7L closed. In the anc LOA with the state of alaska; runway closures must be coordinated with anc. Past practice has always been on frequency 118.3. I was giving a briefing to the relieving controller; head down using the checklist and explaining the current closures. While we were briefing we missed the local controller changing an aircraft from 25L to 25R; and clearing to land. Neither of us saw or heard that; and did not see the aircraft land. I went on break. About 20 minutes later I was called back upstairs to open clearance delivery; and was asked about runway 25R being closed. I said I assumed it was; it was supposed to close. I was then informed that two aircraft had landed on that runway; and that local control never got the call that it was closed.I think this was a one time event and occurred to confusion for the most part. There was a lot going on; we were short staffed; anc airport operations were juggling a lot of closures of taxiways; equip; etc. Fortunately the amass data shows the runway clear both times; and the airport vehicle stated he was clear of the runway in the safety area.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Two Controllers from ANC Tower describe a shift where they don't know what runways and taxiways are closed or open and land two aircraft on a closed runway.

Narrative: Upon arriving at ANC for my shift; I was last person to Cab; so got to work CIC/CD duties. When the next person arrived; I opened CD as a stand alone position. We had one CPC scheduled for [to come in 2 hours later]. Normal staffing is 6 CPC's and a FLM. Seeing that we were short staffed until [halfway through the shift] when we would receive a FLM and CPCIT; I combined CIC and CD for short breaks knowing that LHD would need to be open [in 90 minutes]. I received several phone calls from the State of Alaska in regards to construction that was about to start. Taxiways were open; then not open; Runway 7L was scheduled to close. I made the ATIS adding all of the closures including Runway 25R (15/25 configuration). I announced the new code and stated Runway 7L closed. In the ANC LOA with the State of Alaska; runway closures must be coordinated with ANC. Past practice has always been on frequency 118.3. I was giving a briefing to the relieving Controller; head down using the checklist and explaining the current closures. While we were briefing we missed the Local Controller changing an aircraft from 25L to 25R; and clearing to land. Neither of us saw or heard that; and did not see the aircraft land. I went on break. About 20 minutes later I was called back upstairs to open CD; and was asked about Runway 25R being closed. I said I assumed it was; it was supposed to close. I was then informed that two aircraft had landed on that runway; and that Local Control never got the call that it was closed.I think this was a one time event and occurred to confusion for the most part. There was a lot going on; we were short staffed; ANC airport operations were juggling a lot of closures of taxiways; equip; etc. Fortunately the AMASS data shows the runway clear both times; and the airport vehicle stated he was clear of the runway in the safety area.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site 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.