By akademiotoelektronik, 15/06/2022
Geneva Airport - Two planes failed on the track
Home |Geneva |Geneva news |
Geneva Airport – Two planes almost collided on the runway
A “serious incident” was avoided in extremis on July 2. An investigation is underway.
Aurélie ToninatoA collision between two planes was avoided in extremis on July 2 at Geneva airport, revealed "20minutes". That morning, at 9.47 a.m., a private jet from the Portuguese company Omni was on the "Yankee" slipway, which emerges from the northern area on the runway where an Easyjet Airbus A320 is in the process of take off. A presence qualified as “incursion” and “inappropriate presence” by the Swiss Security Investigation Service (SESE), which opened an investigation on Friday. The A320 had to interrupt its maneuver and perform an emergency brake, indicates the free daily. There were no injuries.
The Easyjet aircraft was carrying 165 passengers, heading for Málaga. They were able to board another plane and finally reach their destination. As for the Omni jet, it was flying towards Pisa. It is too early to establish the causes of this “serious incident”, indicates Florian Reitz, investigator at the SESE, to “20minutes”. But he notes that it "has great similarities" with two other events that occurred in 2015 and 2004 in Geneva. The SESE investigation will therefore “clarify” whether the safety recommendations issued at the time have been implemented. Among these, “he recommended that all intersections and the start of the track be equipped with stop bars, on the model of level crossings”. Has the airport taken these recommendations into account?
Ignace Jeannerat, spokesperson for Genève Aéroport, first specifies that following any incident and at the end of the investigation, "the recommendations of the SESE are addressed to the Federal Office of Civil Aviation (OFAC). Then, it relays them to any parties concerned. He then indicates that “with regard to the two incidents mentioned (note: those of 2004 and 2015), on the one hand, illuminated stop bars are in place at Genève Aéroport and activated according to the defined procedures. The majority of these bars existed before 2015, there were additions and developments afterwards. On the other hand, the procedures were adapted and noted by FOCA in April 2020.”
Following the July 2 incident, will security measures be taken? "As the investigation into the causes of the incident is still ongoing, it is premature to anticipate possible additional measures," replied the spokesperson.
Two similar incidents
Let's recall two similar incidents. On July 24, 2015, a collision between an Aer Lingus Airbus A320 and a business jet was narrowly avoided on the tarmac at Geneva airport. Launched, the Airbus can no longer stop. He manages to avoid the small plane, passing by his right, and to take off. In addition, a British Airways plane which was about to land had to go around while the jet crossed the runway. According to Skyguide, the business jet would have crossed the runway “without authorization” in order to prepare for takeoff.
Another incident: on April 26, 2004, a Boeing 737 nearly crashed in Cointrin. The aircraft of the Dutch company KLM coming from Amsterdam was about to land on a runway where a Lufthansa ATR45 was to take off on the Geneva-Düsseldorf route. The Boeing pilot was able to overshoot in time, passing over the other aircraft, which was still on the runway.
Aurélie Toninato has been a journalist for the Geneva section since 2010 and a graduate of the Academy of Journalism and Media (AJM). After having covered the field of Education in particular, she is now in charge of Health, in particular Covid.
More infoFound an error?Please let us know.
Related Articles