An incident at Nice Côte d’Azur Airport is under investigation after two aircraft came within three metres of each other on the runway, narrowly avoiding a crash.
The near-accident occurred on Sunday 21 September at around 21.30 local time during stormy, foggy conditions. A Nouvelair A320 from Tunis Carthage Airport came into land and flew metres above an easyJet flight on the runway, bound for Nantes.
Eyewitnesses said that the easyJet aircraft shook as the Nouvelair plane passed overhead. The flight to Nantes was subsequently cancelled, and the easyJet pilot was reported to have left the craft in distress. The Nouvelair plane was forced to go-around and landed safely shortly after.
The French Minister of Transport, Philippe Tabaro, has opened an investigation into the near-collision through the Bureau d’enquêtes et d’analyses (BEA).
Stormy conditions emphasise limitations of available positioning tech
The situation at Nice Airport was complicated by the poor weather conditions that forced many flights to be delayed, diverted, or cancelled. In an amusing high-profile incident, Formula One drivers Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc ended up driving a van back to Monaco from Italy after their plane to Nice was unexpectedly diverted on the evening of 21 September.
Possibly, the incident between the easyJet and Nouvelair planes would have occurred if visibility had been better. Yet the near-accident also highlights the shortcomings of air traffic control and the inability of aircraft to position themselves safely in relation to each other.
Recently, Aerospace Tech Review also reported on Honeywell’s testing new SURF-A technology, which the company claims will improve pilots’ situational awareness and prevent runway incidents. The test recreated two famous near-collisions at American airports and demonstrated how real-time alerts could have been used to prevent them.
Yet technology can be fallible too. The drama that unfolded at Nice last week only highlights once again the importance of ongoing safety improvements and multiple backups to guarantee the safety of passengers and crew.
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