https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/p...x-up-sbdk2x2m0
Planes on collision course after Charles de Gaulle airport controller’s error
A slip of the tongue by an air traffic controller put a United Airlines jet on course to collide with an easyJet Airbus seconds before aborting its landing at Paris, an official report has revealed.
Potential disaster was only averted when the pilots of the easyJet Airbus A320 saw the United Boeing 787 bearing down on their runway less than 300ft off the ground as they pulled on to the same runway to take off, according to the Bureau of Enquiry and Analysis (BEA), the air accident investigation branch.
The incident on July 20 last year was triggered when the tower controller told United Flight 57, which was carrying 73 people from Newark, New Jersey, that it was cleared to land on runway 09 right at Charles de Gaulle airport. The jet was already low on the approach to the parallel eastward-facing runway 09 left but the pilots assumed that they had been instructed to “sidestep” to the right and line up to land on the right hand one.
The United co-pilot responded, asking for confirmation with an English expression that was not grasped by the controller. “Understand cleared to land 09 right, sidestep for 9 right”, the pilot said. This was a request for confirmation but the controller did not react. The Boeing pilot flicked off the automatic pilot and steered the jet manually on to the parallel approach. The sidestep manoeuvre, called a “doing a bayonet” in French, is occasionally used at busy airports.
The controller, unaware of her error, cleared the easyJet on to the same runway to take off. The pilots saw the Boeing but assumed in the dawn light that it was still aiming for the parallel runway, 250 yards away, where most landings were taking place. Only when they were already on the runway, did they realise the danger. The Boeing was less than a mile away descending through 300ft towards them travelling at about 160mph.
The easyJet co-pilot radioed: “Traffic landing 09 right” and told the Boeing: “Go around 09 right! Go around!”
The big jet, which was light with only a quarter of its normal passengers because of the pandemic, slammed on power to abort the landing. Its pilots had just spotted the easyJet Airbus at the same time. The Boeing came within 80ft from the ground, just 250 yards from the end of the runway before it began climbing away.
The controller told the investigators that “she thought her tongue had slipped because she was focused on Runway 09 right with [an] Air France Boeing 787 that had just landed there,” the report said. “She explained that controllers regularly made such slips of the tongue”.
The controller blamed her lack of recent practice because of the slowdown of air travel in the coronavirus crisis.
The report also faulted the United pilots for failing to use clearer language. They should have requested the controller to “confirm” her instruction. They noted, though, that there was no international standard on the phrase and that “understand” is commonly used by American pilots.
Non-French pilots have complained for years about the potential hazards caused by the use of both French and English at Paris airports. French airliners use French, leaving most other pilots on the frequency in the dark over what instructions they are being given. Most other countries require English only to be used at major airports. Air France pilots once threatened to go on strike when they were required to only communicate in English.
Just before she switched into English to order the wrong instruction, the controller had used French to clear an Air France Boeing to land on the right hand runway.