Narrative:

Early morning operation and I was working all 4 local control positions. We were in a west configuration; landing runway 26 and departing all other runways. During this time of the morning a large amount of cargo aircraft depart den. There ramp is near runway 35L; so ground control was taxing them to that runway in an effort to expedite them all. This runway is generally not used for departures. Departures were also being taxied to runway 34R. Both runways included aircraft that would need vectors per the den ATCT/ D01 LOA that would conflict with each other. I was trying to mix the departures off each runway in the most effective way. A B737 was cleared for takeoff on 34R and issued a left turn to a heading of 140; soon after I cleared a PA31 for takeoff on 35L with an instruction of runway heading. After the B737 was off departure end of the runway I observed him in a right hand turn putting him in direct conflict with the PA31. I immediately told him I needed him in a left hand turn and to turn left heading 140 now. I then went to the PA31 and instructed him to maintain 6;500 and issued traffic. Seeing that the B737 was at 7;000 and turning towards the PA31; I wanted the PA31 to stop his climb as quickly as possible; he had already passed 6;000 and was around 6;200 to avoid a worse situation. However; the MVA is 7;000 in that area. The PA31 reported the B737 in sight; and I instructed him maintain visual and then kept him climbing. Upon playback of the radar; it was observed that the PA31 never leveled at 6;500. The B737 made a quick and very hard turn back to the left; and quickly became a non factor for the PA31. Recommendation; I don't think I should have been working all the local positions. I don't think that how and where the departures were coming out was ideal; and a different use of runways would have been better. The mixing of airliner jets and cargo props on various headings that conflict with each other off different runways; made me feel uneasy. In addition; some of the headings needed were drastic for the runway they were on; causing a greater chance for confusion.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: DEN Controller described a loss of separation event when a departure turned the wrong direction and last minute visual separation was needed by a departure from a parallel runway.

Narrative: Early morning operation and I was working all 4 Local Control Positions. We were in a West configuration; landing Runway 26 and departing all other runways. During this time of the morning a large amount of cargo aircraft depart DEN. There ramp is near Runway 35L; so Ground Control was taxing them to that runway in an effort to expedite them all. This runway is generally not used for departures. Departures were also being taxied to Runway 34R. Both runways included aircraft that would need vectors per the DEN ATCT/ D01 LOA that would conflict with each other. I was trying to mix the departures off each runway in the most effective way. A B737 was cleared for takeoff on 34R and issued a left turn to a heading of 140; soon after I cleared a PA31 for takeoff on 35L with an instruction of runway heading. After the B737 was off departure end of the runway I observed him in a right hand turn putting him in direct conflict with the PA31. I immediately told him I needed him in a left hand turn and to turn left heading 140 now. I then went to the PA31 and instructed him to maintain 6;500 and issued traffic. Seeing that the B737 was at 7;000 and turning towards the PA31; I wanted the PA31 to stop his climb as quickly as possible; he had already passed 6;000 and was around 6;200 to avoid a worse situation. However; the MVA is 7;000 in that area. The PA31 reported the B737 in sight; and I instructed him maintain visual and then kept him climbing. Upon playback of the RADAR; it was observed that the PA31 never leveled at 6;500. The B737 made a quick and very hard turn back to the left; and quickly became a non factor for the PA31. Recommendation; I don't think I should have been working all the Local positions. I don't think that how and where the departures were coming out was ideal; and a different use of runways would have been better. The mixing of airliner jets and cargo props on various headings that conflict with each other off different runways; made me feel uneasy. In addition; some of the headings needed were drastic for the runway they were on; causing a greater chance for confusion.

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.