ExpressJet Airlines Embraer EMB-145EP incident
Embraer EMB-145EP and Cessna 172P · Incident: air traffic event during takeoff
Event
- NTSB case
- OPS11IA673
- Event typeAccident: someone killed or seriously injured, or the aircraft substantially damaged (NTSB definition). Incident: an occurrence that affected or could have affected safety, short of that. Glossary
- Incident
- InvestigationHow far the investigation had got when the record was published: preliminary, ongoing, final or completed. Unknown where the source does not say. Glossary
- Completed
- API-reported fatalities
- 0 · all aircraft and ground
- Ground fatalities
- Unknown
- OperationWhat kind of flying it was, grouped by the rules it flew under: airline (US Part 121), air taxi and commuter (Part 135), general aviation (Part 91 and similar), military or government. Glossary
- Airline
- WeatherVisual meteorological conditions (VMC): good enough to fly by looking outside. Instrument conditions (IMC): cloud or low visibility, flying by instruments. Glossary
- Visual Meteorological Cond
Aircraft 1 · Embraer EMB-145EP
- Aircraft type
- Embraer EMB-145
- Category
- Airplane
- RegistrationThe aircraft's tail number, such as N12345 or G-ABCD. Registrations are reissued, so the same one years apart can be a different aircraft. Glossary
- N13929
- Operator
- ExpressJet Airlines
- Onboard fatalities
- Unknown
- Route
- From Gulfport Biloxi International Airport (GPT), Gulfport, MSTo George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH), Houston, TX
- Aircraft age
- Not recorded
- Flight rulesThe regulations the flight operated under: in the US, Part 91 (general aviation), Part 121 (airlines), Part 135 (air taxi and commuter) and others; for flights abroad, the NTSB's coarser commercial or non-commercial code. Glossary
- Part 121: Air Carrier
- Phase of flightThe stage of the flight when things started to go wrong: standing, taxi, takeoff, initial climb, en route, maneuvering, approach or landing. Glossary
- Takeoff
- Defining eventThe single coded event the NTSB judges best describes what happened (records from 2008 on). Older records name the first occurrence in the sequence instead. Glossary
- Air traffic event
- DamageDestroyed: beyond practical repair. Substantial: damage that affects the structure, performance or handling and normally needs major repair. Minor: less than that. Glossary
- None
Aircraft 2 · Cessna 172P
- Aircraft type
- Cessna 172
- Category
- Airplane
- RegistrationThe aircraft's tail number, such as N12345 or G-ABCD. Registrations are reissued, so the same one years apart can be a different aircraft. Glossary
- N54120
- Operator
- Unknown
- Onboard fatalities
- Unknown
- Route
- From Gulfport Biloxi International Airport (GPT), Gulfport, MSTo Gulfport Biloxi International Airport (GPT), Gulfport, MS
- Aircraft age
- Not recorded
- Flight rulesThe regulations the flight operated under: in the US, Part 91 (general aviation), Part 121 (airlines), Part 135 (air taxi and commuter) and others; for flights abroad, the NTSB's coarser commercial or non-commercial code. Glossary
- Part 91: General Aviation
- Phase of flightThe stage of the flight when things started to go wrong: standing, taxi, takeoff, initial climb, en route, maneuvering, approach or landing. Glossary
- Takeoff
- Defining eventThe single coded event the NTSB judges best describes what happened (records from 2008 on). Older records name the first occurrence in the sequence instead. Glossary
- Air traffic event
- DamageDestroyed: beyond practical repair. Substantial: damage that affects the structure, performance or handling and normally needs major repair. Minor: less than that. Glossary
- None
Cause areas
- Personnel issues › Action/decision
Approximate · Coordinates as recorded by the NTSB; no uncertainty radius is established.
NTSB narrative
N54120, a Cessna 172, called ready for takeoff on runway 18. The tower local controller (LC) cleared the Cessna for takeoff on runway 18. Sixteen seconds later, (Jet Link) BTA2555/Embraer ERJ145 called ready for takeoff for runway 14. The LC cleared the ERJ145 for takeoff. The departure flight path of runway 18 intersects runway 14. The local controller was working the LC position combined with Ground Control (GC), Clearance Delivery (CD)/Flight Data (FD) and Controller-In-Charge (CIC) positions. The Cessna was airborne crossing taxiway Charlie when the ERJ145 passed through the intersecting flight paths airborne in front of the Cessna. Both aircraft were estimated to be at 300 feet. No traffic was issued to either aircraft by the LC. Closest proximity was estimated to be 0 feet vertically and 300 feet laterally. According to FAA Order 7110.65, Air Traffic Control, paragraph 3-9-8, Intersecting Runway Separation:
a. Issue traffic information to each aircraft operating on intersecting runways. b. Separate departing aircraft from an aircraft using an intersecting runway, or runways when the flight paths intersect, by ensuring that the departure does not begin takeoff roll until one of the following exists: 1. The preceding aircraft has departed and passed the intersection, has crossed the departure runway, or is turning to avert any conflict.
Probable cause
the Gulfport control tower local controller cleared two aircraft for takeoff from runways with intersecting departure flight paths without ensuring the first aircraft had passed the flight path intersection prior to clearing the second aircraft for takeoff.
Verbatim NTSB analysis and probable cause from the NTSB dataset
Sources
NTSB record OPS11IA673
- Event ID
- 20110623X81619
- Case number
- OPS11IA673
- Dataset
- full-current
- Source SHA-256
- 5cf380f0061817c0331a6b2d8cc7e0ee3a79bea469a1001dc5c10e56f35f5ab3
Source notes (4)
- Unreviewed is an editorial label, not an investigation status. API-sourced is not report-checked or human-reviewed. Explicit event totals are used without summing aircraft injury tables; onboard allocation is withheld. Unknown values remain unknown. The operation category is mapped from the NTSB-reported FAR part and has not been reviewed.
- Filled from the NTSB case API where the bulk record had no value: investigation status, damage. Values present in the bulk record are kept.
- The date is the local date, which is the same as the UTC date the NTSB stores.
- API snapshot SHA-256: 8cbe44d30d66cff107accd90f6136b69042820cbe68f85eda4b850477c7950cf; retrieved 2026-09-13T18:19:33.228Z.