Old Habits Die Hard

Old habits do indeed die hard.  Maybe they shouldn't die at all.  Especially if they're good ones. 

Yes, my ATC friends,  I am paying attention.

NTSB
Aviation Investigation Preliminary Report
Austin, TX
Date & Time: February 4, 2023, 06:30 Local

Here's the bit of info you want to keep handy:  Incident Number: DCA23LA149

The report says they're still gathering data as to how close the FedEx and the Southwest got.  They already know it was too close for me.  I put the red oval around the partial screen shot from the report.

I haven't found the final report.  I assume it hasn't been published yet.  I do not know when it will be out.

For those that don't know, I was a Center (En Route) controller.  I never worked in a Tower.  So I am not a subject matter expert (as the FAA likes to put it) on anything to do with working an air traffic control tower.  But I'll go to my grave believing that clearing airplanes to land before the runway is actually clear (as it was required to be in the old days) is a mistake.  "Cleared to land" shouldn't mean maybe.  Just my humble, non-expert, opinion.  

I know that opinion will be deeply unpopular with many controllers.  I never cared whether an opinion was popular or not.  Safe, orderly, expeditious.  In that order.  That's what I care about.   Popular doesn't enter into my equation. 

Don Brown
August 14, 2023