Cessna 172S N488ER and Cessna 172S N551ER incident near Daytona Beach, Florida

Probable cause

The departing pilot's incorrect runway selection and non-compliance with an air traffic control clearance. Contributing to the incident was the air traffic controller's inadequate monitoring of the departing aircraft to ensure that the pilot complied with the clearance issued and his failure to issue conflict resolution advisories.

NTSB analysis

A local controller cleared the Cessna 172 for takeoff on runway 7L; however, the pilot instead departed from runway 25R and passed within about 400 feet vertically and 500 feet laterally of another Cessna 172 that was turning on final approach to runway 7L. The air traffic controller responsible for the two aircraft did not notice that the pilot of the departing aircraft was using the wrong runway and did not intervene to resolve the conflict with the arriving aircraft. The local controller failed to maintain situational awareness of the airplanes in his Class C airspace and failed to provide timely actions, instructions, or advisories that would have assisted the pilots in identifying the conflict in order to resolve it.

Text from the NTSB. Open the NTSB docket for OPS12IA041 for the full record.