Passengers on board an easyJet plane heard a deafening sound at Nice Côte d’Azur airport, in France, as an incoming Nouvelair jet applied full power to avoid a collision
An easyJet plane came “within 10ft” of crashing into another airliner as it prepared to jet off with an urgent investigation launched.
Passengers on board the easyJet plane were waiting at the head of the runway to begin its take-off, at Nice Côte d’Azur airport in France, when they heard the deafening sound of the incoming Nouvelair jet applying full power to avoid a collision. The Tunisian Airbus tried to land on the wrong runway at the airport, which has two close parallel runways, officials have said.
The incident took place at 11.30pm on Sunday (September 21), during heavy rain at France’s third busiest airport. Philippe Tabarot, the French transport minister, said “a collision involving two aircraft of the Nouvelair and easyJet airlines was narrowly avoided” and that he had “immediately ordered” an investigation by the air accident investigation branch (BEA).
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If full, the two aircraft – both Airbus A320s – would have been carrying over 300 passengers and crew between them. The pilot of the easyJet flight was reportedly heard to say that only three metres separated the planes.
The airport management has blamed the pilots of the landing Nouvelair Airbus, flight BJ586 from Tunis, telling Nice Matin: “It seems that the Nouvelair pilot made an error”.
However, this is not the only potential cause, as the control tower, which clears aircraft to land, could also have made the error. Flight tracking data shows the Tunisian Airbus approaching the right northeast-running runway and almost touching down before aborting the landing.
The easyJet Airbus can be seen waiting on the same runway, then leaving it and taxiing back to the terminal. The Tunisian aircraft flew around and then landed on the parallel left runway, reported the Express.
Departing traffic had been using Runway 04R all evening, while arriving traffic had been exclusively using Runway 04L. ADS-B data – which is reported in 25ft increments – by Flightradar24 shows the altitude reported by the Nouvelair flight as it passed over the easyJet plane was 50 feet. An A320 aircraft has a tail height of 38ft 7 in.
The pilots of the easyJet flight 4706 to Nantes were left so rattled by the near miss that it was then cancelled and the passengers were sent home.
The captain was in a visible state of shock when he emerged from the flight deck and told passengers that “a crash had been avoided by three metres”, Érard, a 29-year-old traveller, told Le Figaro newspaper. The captain said the incident had been the fault of the other plane, he added.
The BEA has said the event is a “serious incident” and grounded both flights to complete its investigation. Both black box recorders have been taken and the pilots and air traffic controllers will be interviewed. The poor weather conditions will also be studied.
The agency has cautioned against premature conclusions, but did confirm that the Nouvelair had approached the wrong runway.
An easyJet spokesman told The Mirror: “The safety and wellbeing of our customers and crew is easyJet’s highest priority and in line with procedures, we are fully cooperating with the safety investigation that has been launched in order to understand what happened.”