Mid-Air Collision Between Two Packed Jetliners Over Atlantic Narrowly Avoided After ‘Last Line of Defense’ Issues Emergency Alert

A mid-air collision between two packed commercial airliners high above the Atlantic Ocean was narrowly avoided after an emergency system often described by aviation experts as “the last line of defense” issued an alert to the pilots of both aircraft to take evasive action.

The shocking incident occurred on July 10 but is only now coming to light after the trusted industry publication, the Aviation Herald, obtained information about what appears to have been an incredibly close call.

The two aircraft involved in the incident both belong to Spanish Airlines: An Airbus A321XLR narrowbody aircraft operated by Iberia, which was flying from Recife, Brazil, to Madrid, Spain, and a Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner, operated by Air Europa and flying from Madrid to Paulo Guarulhos, Brazil.

Iberia flight IB-140 was flying northbound towards Europe at an altitude of around 36,000 feet above the Atlantic, while Air Europa flight UX-57 had also been reportedly cleared to fly at the same altitude, and on the same track as the Iberia, but in the opposite direction.

Flying across the Atlantic requires special training for pilots because of the complicated system of ‘tracks’ that criss-cross between North and South America and Europe – a sort of freeway in the sky which requires an advanced driving license to be allowed to drive along.

Air traffic controllers clear pilots to fly along a designated track at a specific altitude with clear separations between planes.

What exactly went wrong in this case is yet to be determined, although the fact that an emergency alert system was activated is some evidence of how close the two airplanes came to a disaster.

The alert system in question is called TCAS, or Traffic Alert and Collision Avoidance System. TCAS sounds an audible alarm in the cockpit if it detects the threat of a midair collision. It functions independently of ground-based alert systems, giving alerts when all other systems have failed.

The system provides two levels of threat alert: Traffic advisories and resolution advisories. It’s not known whether the system provided a traffic advisory or a resolution advisory.

In any case, the pilots of the Iberia A321XLR immediately reacted to the alert and descended to avoid c colliding with the Air Europa plane. Both planes arrived at their intended destinations without further incident.

When pilots receive a resolution advisory, the TCAS system will give instructions on what kind of manoeuvre the pilots need to perform to avoid a collision, which could involve quickly climbing or descending to get out of the way of the other aircraft.

These manoeuvres can be pretty dramatic, and, in the past, resolution advisories have resulted in some nasty injuries to passengers and crew who have been thrown about the cabin.