PA-28 Cherokee/Archer/Dakota/Pillan/Warrior
Air Traffic Control Fully Certified
Air Traffic Control Time Certified In Pos 1 (yrs) 22
Confusion; Distraction; Situational Awareness
ATC Issue All Types; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Clearance; Ground Incursion Runway
Air Traffic Control Issued New Clearance; Flight Crew Executed Go Around / Missed Approach
Human Factors; Procedure
Aircraft X was inbound VFR to Salt Lake International (SLC). I was working Local Control East and the City (local assist) positions combined. Traffic was light. The runways normally associated with VFR operations at SLC were closed for routine maintenance. I allowed myself to be distracted by items not related to the traffic situation; and cleared the aircraft to land [on] the closed runway. I was alerted to the situation by the controller working the adjacent runway; and by as AMASS [Airport Movement Area Safety System] alert; as the VFR aircraft crossed the one mile final. I instructed the aircraft to go around; coordinated an arrival sequence with the controller working the adjacent runway; and the aircraft landed there without additional incident.The fault in this event lies entirely with me. It is the sort of lapse in attention frequently spoken of; but bone-chilling when it happens to you. Traffic was light; weather was VFR; the course of events for the entire shift up to the time of the incident had been completely routine; and I dropped my guard and failed to incorporate a critical piece of information (the closed runway) into my plan. My recommendations to myself would be to stay focused on the movement of aircraft; the conditions of the airport and airspace; and don't get caught up in extraneous events to the actual performance of my assigned duties. I also should have placed a 'closed runway' strip on my strip board; instead I relied on the ASDE 'X's' indicating closed runway on the display; and failed to place the additional memory aid on my strip board. From time to time during the course of my career I have come to moments when I realize that activities at work and my involvement in them have been so uneventful and so routine for such a lengthy period that I have begun to allow a sense of complacency to creep into my working routine. This realization has come to me before simply as a matter of self-examination and assessment; and had prompted me to redouble my efforts to stay engaged and work proactively to exclude that complacency; and keep my sense of awareness in the moment; and planning out the next few moves. Today; I allowed events to progress ahead of my plan; rather than conform to a solidly prepared plan. My wakeup call came in the form of a co-worker urgently advising corrective action; and an AMASS alert. I am profoundly grateful that the situation was resolved; thanks to my team mates and the safety logic alert without injury to persons or damage to property; but I am embarrassed and ashamed to have failed to work to the standard expected of me; and to have let down my co-workers. At my level of experience I am expected to provide a good example; not one of caution.
SLC Tower Controller reported that he was distracted and almost let an aircraft land on a closed runway. The Controller did not use memory joggers to remind him of the closure. The AMASS alerted along with another Controller advising him. The aircraft was sent around and landed on an open runway.