Expectation Bias Contributes to Texas Runway Collision

NTSB final report cites distracted pilots and an inoperative cockpit voice recorder played a role in a 2023 ground collision at Hobby Airport.

Meg Godlewski

Monday, October 27, 2025 at 03:30 PM ET

Verified

Edited By:

Travis Tingle

Aft view of the Citation damage to its empennage [Credit: NTSB]

Key Takeaways:

A 2023 ground collision at William P. Hobby Airport between a Raytheon Hawker 850XP and a Textron Aviation 510 Citation Mustang was caused by the Hawker crew taking off without clearance, striking the Citation that was landing on an intersecting runway.
Contributing factors included the Hawker crew's expectation bias, which led them to mistakenly believe they had received takeoff clearance, and distractions from resolving in-flight system warnings (rudder bias and elevator trim).
The investigation also highlighted the air traffic controller's failure to issue a required traffic advisory to both aircraft and the fact that the Hawker's Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) was inoperative, hindering the accident analysis.

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Expectation bias played a factor in the 2023 ground collision between a Raytheon Hawker 850XP and a Textron Aviation 510 Citation Mustang at William P. Hobby Airport (KHOU) in Houston in 2023.

According to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) final report, on October 24 at 3:20 p.m. CDT in VFR conditions, the Citation had just landed on Runway 13R and was rolling out when its vertical stabilizer was struck by the left wing tip of the Hawker, which was taking off from Runway 22.