French investigators have released their preliminary report into a near-miss incident that took place at Nice Airport (NCE) in the south of France last month. On a dark September evening, a landing Nouvelair Airbus A320 came within 10 feet of an easyJet Airbus A320 when it mistakenly attempted to touch down on the departing runway occupied by the latter aircraft.
The alarming incident made headlines for the serious nature of the unplanned runway incursion by the Tunisian aircraft, and because of how unthinkably bad the consequences could have been were it not for last-minute evasive action. Now, the BEA report has given additional context to the events of September 21, and highlighted a key lighting difference at Nice Airport.
Differing Light Levels May Have Caused The Near Miss
According to the BEA’s preliminary report, which can be read in full at this link, the easyJet Airbus A320 had 170 passengers and six crew members onboard, and bore the registration OE-IJZ. It was scheduled to depart Nice on a domestic flight to Nantes (NTE). Meanwhile, the Nouvelair A320 had 176 passengers and six crew members onboard, and was arriving from Tunis (TUN).
As pictured above, Nice Airport has two parallel runways, with the Nouvelair jet having been cleared to land on runway 04L (in the middle of the photo). Meanwhile, the easyJet plane had lined up to depart from 04R, closest to the sea. The BEA report notes that different brightness levels between the lighting on the two strips may have caused the Nouvelair jet to mistakenly line up for 04R:
“No anomalies were noted regarding the condition of the lighting on this runway at the time of the occurrence. (…) At night, the runway 04R lights are much brighter than the 04L runway lights.”
10 Feet From Disaster
The report also highlights the fact that reduced visibility in the September darkness due to rain and clouds may also have played a role in the crew of the Nouvelair Airbus A320 choosing to mistakenly execute a visual approach towards runway 04R. BEA notes that “the weather was unsettled between Cannes and Antibes,” with “moderate showers” and “slight turbulence” in the area.
ATC transcriptions featured in the report confirm the fact that, during the Tunisian aircraft’s approach into Nice Airport, its pilots confirmed that they were approaching what they believed to be runway 04L. This was despite multiple runway incursion alerts being activated in the tower due to the easyJet plane entering the runway that the Nouvelair jet was going for.
The easyJet pilots saw the Nouvelair jet on final approach when entering the runway and, although the pilot monitoring “expressed his surprise at the perceived flight path, the crew did not identify any conflict.” As such, the Tunisian plane was cleared to land, and came within 10 feet (three meters) of the easyJet A320 before its crew performed a go-around. But what happened next?
The Nouvelair Jet Landed At The Second Time Of Asking
Having performed a go-around, the pilots of the Nouvelair Airbus A320 were “vectored to join the approach procedure RNP Z 04L.” They eventually made a safe landing on the correct runway at the second time of asking, approximately 16 minutes after their near miss. The easyJet plane, meanwhile, asked for clearance from the air traffic controllers to return to the apron.
The air traffic controllers at Nice Airport did issue an order for the Nouvelair pilots to perform a go-around when the Tunisian crew’s mistake became clear. However, an interesting point to note from the BEA report is the fact that this came two seconds after the plane had overflown the easyJet A320 with a clearance of just 10 feet, by which time they had already begun to climb away.
This, the report notes, highlights the risks of air traffic controllers working combined tower/approach positions, as this dichotomy increased the workload to the extent that the conflict wasn’t identified sooner. As a result, the airport has issued a temporary ban on VPT-type visual approaches at night when 04L is being used for landings and 04R is designated for departing flights.
