Narrative:

This was a two part situation which made the prior information a bit difficult to answer. I was working ground control when air carrier X landed on runway xxr. When he turned off on runway yyl; we noticed he had smoke coming from the back of the aircraft and was told so by the local controller; who was combined with the controller in charge position. The pilot advised us that he was evacuating the airplane at which time an alert 3 was called and the airport was closed. I stopped all ground traffic immediately and instructed the emergency vehicles to proceed to the disabled aircraft. We were awaiting word from the county that runway xxr was available for use when the landline rang. By this time the next shift line had arrived and relieved the local controller who moved back to the desk and took this call. He then informed us that that was the county calling to say the runway was open and available. Shortly after that call; an airport operation's vehicle called me to perform a runway check on xxr. I was never told on frequency that the runway was open and available and upon learning that the local controller had already cleared the next aircraft to land I had the airport operation's vehicle hold short of xxr. This was a case of miscommunication and although there was no loss of separation; an aircraft did land on a runway that was not inspected after the emergency landed. We were also a bit short staffed which was unfortunate since local control was very busy and ill equipped to handle that traffic; a briefing; and then coordination with the county to reopen the runway. It is also possible that there was some miscommunication on the part of the county. My recommendation would be better communication between the county and the tower during emergencies.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Following an emergency arrival; a subsequent arrival is allowed to land on the same runway before it is inspected. Reporter stated confused ATC coordination with the airport operator was contributory.

Narrative: This was a two part situation which made the prior information a bit difficult to answer. I was working Ground Control when Air Carrier X landed on Runway XXR. When he turned off on Runway YYL; we noticed he had smoke coming from the back of the aircraft and was told so by the Local Controller; who was combined with the CIC position. The pilot advised us that he was evacuating the airplane at which time an alert 3 was called and the airport was closed. I stopped all ground traffic immediately and instructed the emergency vehicles to proceed to the disabled aircraft. We were awaiting word from the county that Runway XXR was available for use when the landline rang. By this time the next shift line had arrived and relieved the Local Controller who moved back to the desk and took this call. He then informed us that that was the county calling to say the runway was open and available. Shortly after that call; an Airport Operation's vehicle called me to perform a runway check on XXR. I was never told on frequency that the runway was open and available and upon learning that the Local Controller had already cleared the next aircraft to land I had the airport operation's vehicle hold short of XXR. This was a case of miscommunication and although there was no loss of separation; an aircraft did land on a runway that was not inspected after the emergency landed. We were also a bit short staffed which was unfortunate since Local Control was very busy and ill equipped to handle that traffic; a briefing; and then coordination with the county to reopen the runway. It is also possible that there was some miscommunication on the part of the county. My recommendation would be better communication between the county and the Tower during emergencies.

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.