Boeing 787 arriving from Newark missed hitting another plane by 300 feet on runway: report
The length of a football field was all that separated an incoming Boeing 787 from an outgoing EasyJet Airbus A320 at Paris’ Charles de Gaulle airport, thanks to a “slip of the tongue.”
Citing findings released by French air safety investigators on Tuesday, CNN reports that an air traffic controller caused the July 20, 2020 near miss by directing a United Airlines Boeing 787 coming in from Newark, N.J., to land on runway 09R. That controller also instructed an EasyJet departing for Spain to the same runway.
The EasyJet, which had been on runway 09L, followed instructions and prepared to take off instead from 09R. Noticing a plane was coming in for a landing, that crew checked back with air traffic control, warning controllers of a potential situation on runway 09R.
The flight from Newark was at that point flying at an altitude of 300 feet and was a little more 4,000 feet away. The EasyJet crew and air traffic controller both radioed the incoming United Airlines flight, which was able to abort its landing before passing over the Spanish-bound flight by 300 feet.
The United Airlines flight carried 73 people. There were 155 people aboard the EasyJet.
French investigators cited a lack of practice due to reduced air traffic during the Covid-19 pandemic as a contributing factor to the “slip of the tongue” that could have resulted in tragedy. There had also been an issue with an air traffic control monitor, which caused the controller to be temporarily seated at a workstation that did not have a view of runway 09R.
