Who must be notified of a departing aircraft that is being taxied to a nonactive runway?

• A. Team Supervisor
• B. Local Control
• C. Departure Control
• D. Cab Supervisor

Answer: (B)

Coordinating surface movements around active and inactive runways is handled by the controller responsible for the airport’s movement area on the ground. When a departing aircraft is taxiing toward a runway that is not active, this needs to be communicated to Local Control so they can monitor the taxi path, prevent unauthorized entry onto the runway, and coordinate with other controllers if a change of plan is needed. Local Control manages aircraft on the airport surface and interacts with the tower to ensure that runway use is safe and properly sequenced.

Departure Control deals with aircraft after takeoff and once they’re in the air, so they don’t handle taxi status or runway activity prior to departure. The other roles are managerial or supervisory and don’t directly manage real-time ground movement or runway status.