Narrative:

Aircraft Y was on or around a four mile final; ILS runway 28R; when aircraft X called ready for departure runway 28R. I instructed aircraft X to hold short of runway 28R to which the pilot read back the hold short instructions. I observed aircraft X at or around the runway 28R hold short line when I initially instructed him to hold short of the runway; I then looked at the d-brite to see where aircraft Y was at on final; and scanned the runway. I then looked back to see where aircraft X was; and noticed he was past the hold short line. I informed the flm; who was controller in charge at the time; about the aircraft crossing the hold short line; and I inquired to the him if it was ok to let aircraft Y land. His reply was in the affirmative; so I let aircraft Y land after observing that aircraft X was stopped short of runway 28R. History: during this last summer (2009) when construction was occurring on adjoining taxiways to runway 28R; the decision was made to eliminate one of the hold lines to the approach end of runway 28R. Prior to that we had two hold lines; one was the actual hold short line; close to the approach end of runway 28R; the other was that for the ILS critical area; which was adjacent to the end of the runway 28R run-up area. The choice was made to make the ILS critical area hold line the runway 28R hold short line; which is quite a distance from the approach end of runway 28R (I can see a pilots confusion when they are taxiing out for departure); until the further construction of 'a' taxiway is completed this summer of 2010. During the initial period of the change; our facility elected to be non-punitive toward any pilot; commercial or GA; that had crossed the runway 28R hold short line. This continued on for a couple of months with a 'hold short' line change advisory broadcast on the ATIS. Also during this time aircraft were allowed to land; with flm concurrence; when an aircraft had crossed the hold short line. I have witnessed; and participated in this action prior to this incident. Later a decision was made to eliminate the advisory from the ATIS; and start deviating pilots who had crossed the hold short line. I do recall at a team briefing the new 'procedure' to start deviating pilots who crossed the hold short line; but I was under the impression that allowing an aircraft to land; with another aircraft having crossed the hold short line; was still a gray area; and subject to a case by case basis until this coming summer when a permanent hold short line for runway 28R was to be installed after the scheduled alpha taxiway end reconstruction. This prior practice is what led me to my actions today. Recommendation; 1) better communication within this facility; its users; and airport personnel.2) a hold short line is a hold short line. There should never have been a grace period once the decision was made to re-position the hold short line.3) we all need to be on the same page.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: BIL controller described an event when an aircraft crossed the runway hold line but traffic on final was allowed to land after questioning the supervisor; recent construction cited as a causal factor in the event.

Narrative: Aircraft Y was on or around a four mile final; ILS Runway 28R; when Aircraft X called ready for departure Runway 28R. I instructed Aircraft X to hold short of Runway 28R to which the pilot read back the hold short instructions. I observed Aircraft X at or around the Runway 28R hold short line when I initially instructed him to hold short of the runway; I then looked at the D-BRITE to see where Aircraft Y was at on final; and scanned the runway. I then looked back to see where Aircraft X was; and noticed he was past the hold short line. I informed the FLM; who was CIC at the time; about the aircraft crossing the hold short line; and I inquired to the him if it was OK to let Aircraft Y land. His reply was in the affirmative; so I let Aircraft Y land after observing that Aircraft X was stopped short of Runway 28R. History: During this last summer (2009) when construction was occurring on adjoining taxiways to Runway 28R; the decision was made to eliminate one of the hold lines to the approach end of Runway 28R. Prior to that we had two hold lines; one was the actual hold short line; close to the approach end of Runway 28R; the other was that for the ILS critical area; which was adjacent to the end of the Runway 28R run-up area. The choice was made to make the ILS critical area hold line the Runway 28R hold short line; which is quite a distance from the approach end of Runway 28R (I can see a pilots confusion when they are taxiing out for departure); until the further construction of 'A' taxiway is completed this summer of 2010. During the initial period of the change; our facility elected to be non-punitive toward any pilot; commercial or GA; that had crossed the Runway 28R hold short line. This continued on for a couple of months with a 'hold short' line change advisory broadcast on the ATIS. Also during this time aircraft were allowed to land; with FLM concurrence; when an aircraft had crossed the hold short line. I have witnessed; and participated in this action prior to this incident. Later a decision was made to eliminate the advisory from the ATIS; and start deviating pilots who had crossed the hold short line. I do recall at a team briefing the new 'procedure' to start deviating pilots who crossed the hold short line; but I was under the impression that allowing an aircraft to land; with another aircraft having crossed the hold short line; was still a gray area; and subject to a case by case basis until this coming summer when a permanent hold short line for Runway 28R was to be installed after the scheduled alpha taxiway end reconstruction. This prior practice is what led me to my actions today. Recommendation; 1) Better communication within this facility; its users; and airport personnel.2) A hold short line is a hold short line. There should NEVER have been a grace period once the decision was made to re-position the hold short line.3) We all need to be on the same page.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 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.