Narrative:

I feel strongly that the events which took place last night while I was working south local control at ord tower could have been avoided. I was working my assigned position of south local control; landing runway's 4R and 10 with the occasional runway 32L departure. The landing runway configuration is called plan X; and ord was also landing runway 9R. There were numerous mitigating circumstances which lead up to air carrier X being given a go-around instruction; but I felt everything was normal; a normal go-around; etc. Etc.; until I received; from north local control; my go-around headings. I was told to 'miss' air carrier Y; and go 140. I did not see air carrier Y on my radar display; I believe air carrier Y was not even in the air; or off the departure end; when I was issued the 140 heading; and told to 'miss air carrier Y '. I had established the location of air carrier Y by turning around and seeing that this air carrier Y was in a right turn to the southeast heading 140 as well; just at the departure end of the runway. I screamed out 'I'm midfield with my go-around!' I believe at this time I took drastic measures to try and keep these two aircraft apart; I told air carrier X to stop his climb! Traffic 12 O' clock! Stay low! I had knowingly tried to remain calm; but I believe this situation was bad to be in. I could clearly see the air carrier Y pass off the right side of air carrier X; I could clearly see that air carrier X was now lower in altitude than air carrier Y; I gave intermittent turns to air carrier X; I told air carrier X to turn right heading 090 climb and maintain..... There was a lot of background talking; I was also still clearing other aircraft to land their runways; and I was turning landing aircraft off of active runways to inbound ground control. My scan was about 180 degrees of the airport plus I was still trying to turn air carrier X to the assigned go-around heading of 140. I knew that air carrier X was still going to be too close to the leading aircraft air carrier Y; so I assigned air carrier X a heading of 120 so as not to loose any separation with chicago departure control. Air carrier X did not reply! I issued instructions again and again thinking I may have been stepped on by an arrival; nothing! No response! I called down to departure (after having to locate the appropriate frequency button amongst a maze of multi-similar-looking buttons!!!) and asked if they were talking to air carrier X? The departure controller said no; and asked me if he could 'turn' another aircraft (????). I looked at the radar and saw a tag right next to air carrier X; on his left; (and I'm thinking who is that!!!) I told the departure controller I did not own that airspace; but would turn the (aircraft in question). This was strike two! North local apparently was still launching aircraft with total disregard to protecting airspace! No communication was made to me about the succeeding departure! No instruction was made to 'miss' anyone else; at any time. I firmly believe north locals actions; and continued take-off clearances to be dangerous. Recommendation; in my opinion the responsibility for initial separation rests entirely with the north local controller. I was working a position in which any use of airspace had to be coordinated. I did not own any airspace! Plain and simple; the north local controller should have given me the 140 heading un-restricted. North local control should have kept the air carrier Y departure on his frequency; north local control should have seen where my go-around was and at the very least either turned the air carrier Y to the northeast out of the way; or kept air carrier Y on a runway heading and issued traffic! This is clearly what I would have done; and this is clearly what I would expect from an ord cpc. A go-around on this configuration (plan X) is not out of the ordinary; there could be numerous go-arounds for any number of reasons all day long. This is the type of situation that north local control is to constantly prepare for!

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: ORD Local Controller described a combination operational error and pilot deviation conflict event when a go-around included instructions for traffic avoidance that was not visible on RADAR.

Narrative: I feel strongly that the events which took place last night while I was working South Local Control at ORD Tower could have been avoided. I was working my assigned position of South Local Control; landing Runway's 4R and 10 with the occasional Runway 32L departure. The landing runway configuration is called PLAN X; and ORD was also landing Runway 9R. There were numerous mitigating circumstances which lead up to Air Carrier X being given a go-around instruction; but I felt everything was normal; a normal go-around; etc. etc.; until I received; from North Local Control; my go-around headings. I was told to 'miss' Air Carrier Y; and go 140. I did not see Air Carrier Y on my RADAR display; I believe Air Carrier Y was not even in the air; or off the departure end; when I was issued the 140 heading; and told to 'miss Air Carrier Y '. I had established the location of Air Carrier Y by turning around and seeing that this Air Carrier Y was in a right turn to the southeast heading 140 as well; just at the departure end of the runway. I screamed out 'I'm midfield with my go-around!' I believe at this time I took drastic measures to try and keep these two aircraft apart; I told Air Carrier X to stop his climb! Traffic 12 O' Clock! Stay low! I had knowingly tried to remain calm; but I believe this situation was bad to be in. I could clearly see the Air Carrier Y pass off the right side of Air Carrier X; I could clearly see that Air Carrier X was now lower in altitude than Air Carrier Y; I gave intermittent turns to Air Carrier X; I told Air Carrier X to turn right heading 090 climb and maintain..... There was a lot of background talking; I was also still clearing other aircraft to land their runways; and I was turning landing aircraft off of active runways to inbound ground control. My scan was about 180 degrees of the airport plus I was still trying to turn Air Carrier X to the assigned go-around heading of 140. I knew that Air Carrier X was still going to be too close to the leading aircraft Air Carrier Y; so I assigned Air Carrier X a heading of 120 so as not to loose any separation with Chicago Departure Control. Air Carrier X did not reply! I issued instructions again and again thinking I may have been stepped on by an arrival; nothing! No response! I called down to Departure (after having to locate the appropriate frequency button amongst a maze of multi-similar-looking buttons!!!) and asked if they were talking to Air Carrier X? The Departure Controller said NO; and asked me if he could 'turn' another aircraft (????). I looked at the RADAR and saw a tag right next to Air Carrier X; on his left; (and I'm thinking who is THAT!!!) I told the departure controller I did not own that airspace; but would turn the (aircraft in question). This was strike two! North Local apparently was still launching aircraft with total disregard to protecting airspace! No communication was made to me about the succeeding departure! No instruction was made to 'miss' anyone else; at any time. I firmly believe North Locals actions; and continued take-off clearances to be dangerous. Recommendation; in my opinion the responsibility for initial separation rests entirely with the North Local Controller. I was working a position in which any use of airspace had to be coordinated. I did not own any airspace! Plain and simple; the North Local Controller should have given me the 140 heading un-restricted. North Local Control should have kept the Air Carrier Y departure on his frequency; North Local Control should have seen where my go-around was and at the very least either turned the Air Carrier Y to the northeast out of the way; or kept Air Carrier Y on a runway heading and issued traffic! This is clearly what I would have done; and this is clearly what I would expect from an ORD CPC. A go-around on this configuration (Plan X) is not out of the ordinary; there could be numerous go-arounds for any number of reasons all day long. This is the type of situation that North Local Control is to constantly prepare for!

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.