An air traffic controller made a mistake while communicating with jet airplanes landing and taking off, nearly causing a serious collision between the aircraft.
The ground-based aircraft director at Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris nearly caused a collision in mid-air last July with a “slip of the tongue,” according to a French air safety report released Tuesday.
Listen to your favorite News/Talk station now on Audacy.
One airplane - a United Airlines Boeing 787 from Newark, New Jersey - came dangerously close to another aircraft - an EasyJet Airbus A320 headed to Spain - as they passed each other with only 300 feet to spare, nearly colliding before being quickly redirected.
The air traffic controller gave the United plane to land the wrong runway number to use for landing, directing it to land in a lane reserved for take-offs. When the United crew tried to confirm, the controller did not verify and proceeded to tell the Spain-bound flight to prepare to takeoff from that same runway.
As the EasyJet flight waited to take off, the United plane spotted the other jet in its landing path.
Related
The EasyJet crew - still on the ground - and the air traffic controller warned the United flight of the potential collision, forcing the plane attempting to land from Newark to abort suddenly. Only 300 feet spared the two jets from colliding.
In the report, investigators blamed a lack of traffic at the airport, suggesting the air traffic controller was rusty and out of practice because there weren’t as many flights during the pandemic. In addition, the report said the controller could not see the runways because a broken computer forced her to use other equipment with no line of sight.
The report also criticized flight crew members who used incorrect terminology when communicating with those on the ground.
Related
