The crew of the Raytheon Hawker 850 that hit a Cessna Mustang landing on a crossing runway at Houston Hobby Airport (KHOU) on October 24 did not follow ATC instructions to line up and wait (LUAW). They began the Hawker's takeoff roll and ignored two ATC instructions to stop and hold its position before completing the takeoff, according to the just-released NTSB preliminary report.
The accident occurred at about 3:20 p.m. when the Hawker (N269AA) that was taking off on Runway 22 struck the Mustang (N510HM) landing on cross-Runway 13R. The Hawker sustained “minor damage” when its left wing struck N510HM's tail and vertical stabilizer; the Citation's empennage was substantially damaged. N269AA was able to become airborne and it circled back to the airport before landing safely. No injuries were reported among the seven onboard the two aircraft.
Per the NTSB report, at 3:15 p.m. the ground controller instructed the Hawker’s crew to monitor KHOU Tower frequency. At 3:18 p.m., ATC instructed the Hawker crew to LUAW on Runway 22. The Hawker crew told investigators they believed they were cleared for takeoff and began their roll. The controller twice ordered the crew to stop and hold its position but received no response.
During the post-accident interview, both crewmembers of N269AA stated that they had a rudder bias alert and a pitch trim alert, which they had to resolve during the takeoff roll, but that there were “no controllability issues during takeoff.” They noted they did not see the oncoming Mustang until one second before impact, which they described as a thud. N510HM’S lone pilot indicated that he never saw the other jet but heard a loud bang.
KHOU Tower is equipped with an Airport Surface Detection Equipment-Model X (ASDE-X) system to enable controllers to detect potential runway conflicts by tracking movement on runways and taxiways. The controllers noticed N269AA's movement before they received the ASDE-X alert approximately 10 seconds before the collision.
N269AA was equipped with a cockpit voice recorder, which was removed and sent to the NTSB lab for analysis.