Originally Posted by thebug622
I thought it was the controllers duty to give the pilot his runway number,and the pilots duty to go to that runway.I don't believe that the control tower "watches" each aircraft to its starting point for takeoff.If true then an addional person in the tower would have had no effect
I agree with this comment; if another person were in the tower, it would be a fluke if they caught the error. I know some people in the ATC business and they monitor things when they're busy--not when it's the only aircraft around. It seems to be that the pilots messed up. Of course, had there been two people working the tower, the issues would be a lot more clear-cut.