Commercial Fixed Wing
Air Traffic Control Fully Certified
Air Traffic Control Time Certified In Pos 1 (yrs) 9
Distraction; Situational Awareness
ATC Issue All Types; Conflict Ground Conflict; Critical; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy; Ground Incursion Runway
Air Traffic Control Issued Advisory / Alert; Air Traffic Control Issued New Clearance; Air Traffic Control Separated Traffic; Air Traffic Control Provided Assistance
Human Factors; Procedure
Runways 8/15 in use. Arriving Runway 8 and departing Runway 15.I was on CIC at the time of this event. I was monitoring the LC (Local Control) frequency as required; but there are often times when I'm monitoring the frequency and not hearing everything since I am performing other CIC duties such as phone calls; sector assignments; coordination with the airport authority about NOTAMs; weather briefings; facility log updates; etc.At the time this situation started; I was talking to the training team on GC (Ground Control) so I did not hear the clearance given to Aircraft X; who was taxiing up Taxiway A and had been given an IFR release off Runway 15 from TRACON. After I finished talking with GC; I sat back down at the CIC position. Aircraft Y was on about a 1.5 mile final to Runway 8 as I saw Aircraft X taxiing onto Runway 15. This is completely normal to see; as we often LUAW (Line Up and Wait) our Runway 15 departures so that we can clear them for takeoff as soon as the Runway 8 landers roll through the intersection.When Aircraft Y was just about to flare for Runway 8; I noticed that Aircraft X appeared to be starting his roll. I asked LC; 'Is Aircraft X rolling? Did you LUAW him or clear him for takeoff?' LC said he didn't think he had cleared him for takeoff. I told him to cancel Aircraft X's takeoff clearance immediately; which he did. The aircraft had rolled about 1;000 to 1;500 feet by the time they aborted.After this incident; a supervisor listened to the tapes and confirmed that LC had indeed cleared Aircraft X for takeoff. I'm not sure whether it was inadvertent and he meant to give him a LUAW clearance or whether he just forgot about Aircraft Y on final.Don't fall into a sense of complacency.Don't allow distractions to take your focus away from your primary duties. I am often teased about it; but when we are busy with many critical situations happening at once; and especially when we have CIC combined with GC; I will not answer the outside phone line until our traffic isn't as busy. I don't want to take my eyes off the busy operation in order to get a phone call from the airport authority about a NOTAM for a taxiway light bulb that's going to be OTS (Out of Service) during the mid-two weeks from now. (CIC was not combined in this situation)LC's scan should have been focused more heavily on making sure that Runway 15 traffic was not moving when Runway 8 traffic was on short final. When I brought it to his attention seemed to be the first he noticed the situation.
BUR Tower CIC reported an unsafe situation when the Local Controller mistakenly cleared an aircraft for takeoff with an aircraft on final to a crossing runway.