A plane operated by Tunisian airline Nouvelair came within 10 feet of landing on top of a packed EasyJet aircraft at Nice Airport in the South of France late on Sunday night in a terrifying close call that left the pilots of the EasyJet plane so shocked that the flight had to be canceled.
The incident occurred after the Nouvelair flight from Tunis, Tunisia, lined up to land on the wrong runway, which was already occupied by the EasyJet plane preparing for takeoff.
Passengers onboard the EasyJet plane said there was a deafening roar inside the cabin as the pilots of the Nouvelair aircraft realized their mistake and pushed as much power into the engines to avoid disaster.
Once the Nouvelair plane performed a go-around, the pilots of the EasyJet were left so shocked, with one reportedly left shaking and crying, the plane had to taxi back to the gate, and the flight was canceled.
Based on what we know so far, this is what happened:
- EasyJet flight U2-4706 from Nice to Nantes was due to depart at 8:55 pm on September 21 but was delayed by nearly two hours due to bad weather across the Côte d’Azur.
- Just before 11 pm on Sunday night, the pilots of EasyJet flight 4706 were eventually given clearance to line up on Runway 04R for departure.
- Around the same time, Nouvelair flight BJ-586 was given clearance to land on Runway 04L.
- Rather than correctly lining up to land on Runway 04L, the pilots of Nouvelair flight 586 lined up to land on Runway 04R.
- The Nouvelair Airbus A320 crossed the runway threshold at an altitude of just 50 feet, and seconds later started a go-around after the pilots saw the EasyJet A320 lined up on the same runway.
- French media reports suggest the Nouvelair plane came within just 10 feet of the EasyJet aircraft.
- The Nouvelair aircraft ended up landing without incident on the correct runway around 15 minutes later.
- Meanwhile, the pilots of the EasyJet plane taxiied back to the gate, where the flight was canceled.
French aviation accident investigators from the French Civil Aviation Safety Investigation Authority (BEA) have classified the occurrence as a ‘serious incident’ and have deployed four investigators to Nice Airport.
What caused the pilots of the Nouvelair flight to line up to land on the wrong runway is yet to be determined, although there are already some theories behind what could have caused this incident.
One potentially plausible reason is that Runway 04R is equipped with LED lights, which shine brighter than the non-LED lights on Runway 04L. If the pilots weren’t familiar with the airfield in Nice, they could have been confused and thought Runway 04R was the correct runway to land on.
The Nouvelair aircraft (registration: BJ586) remains grounded in Nice – reportedly on the orders of BEA, which has seized the plane’s so-called Black Boxes and started a process to interview the two pilots.
The EasyJet aircraft (registration: OE-IJZ) is also grounded in Nice for the same reason.
One passenger onboard the EasyJet plane told French newspaper Le Figaro that the Captain informed them that, in his opinion, air traffic control at Nice was not at fault, and that the blame may lie with the pilots of Nouvelair aircraft.
