Barcelona Air Prox
 

Aviation Herald reports serious incident on August 7 between Vueling A321-200 and Easy A320-200. Separation reduced to 0 vertical and 1.48m horizontal on approach 07L.

atc`s preference for own language to Spanish aircraft may come up as an issue once again.

1.48m? Are you sure? :confused:

So they missed by five feet? :eek:

Airbubba, it is treason for a Yank to assume "metric" in any situation. ;)

1.48 miles lateral separation.

It was a head-on (well, 45°) conflict (one on left base for the active, turning final, the other on right base). Not a lot of clarity yet otherwise.

Couldnt help suspecting BCN airspace is a magnet for all sorts of conflicts these months. Or do they have a more sensitive reporting system ?

That's interesting, because to the best of my knowledge VLG crews use English on the r/t even in Spain. Certainly was so last time I was in BCN and PMI.

Tricky old wind perhaps?

Link below shows rough tracks of both aircraft. Easy seems to be on wider base turn compared to the tighter turn of VY.

http://avherald.com/img/vueling_a321...160807_map.jpg

Perhaps it wasn't the case here however I can see this happening again and again. It's all well and good letting the local based airlines in first (like most of Southern Europe) but if your vectoring skills aren't all that, then you're going to run into issues.

@hoteltango

If you're under the illusion that Vueling crews use English in Spanish airspace then you obviously haven't been anywhere in Spain recently. They're probably even worse offenders than Iberia

Well, the last time I was in BCN, for a period of 3 days, every single VLG aircraft used English. It so surprised me that I remarked on it to a friend at the time. I even wondered if it was company SOP (since they have mixed nationality crews). It may well be that if both pilots are Spanish they revert to their native language. However, I am adamant that in that 3 day period I never heard a single VLG use Spanish! Yes, it was odd, which is why I remember it.

They use English . . . . until they want to jump the Q . . . then.

Only (half) joking :rolleyes:

CaptPS. Mind your P's & Q's.

Only (half) joking

It is not ATC preference to use Spanish language. They are obliged to answer in Spanish if the pilot calls in Spanish.

Since the law is not likely to change, the best would be if Vueling and other Spanish airlines would make it SOP to use English. In the mean time when flying in Spain it's a good idea to brush up on Spanish RT phraseology by carrying a copy of Doc 4444 in Spanish. :ok:

Could be! More investment needed in the x,y and z axis maybe...

Both aircraft being vectored under ATC control. The question must be which ATC intended as No 1 in the sequence and why did it not work out as planned. Could it be that one cut the corner, as both would appear to be at about the right distance from threshold before base turn.

RAT 5.....excellent, love the humour!!

...and then might they just say I know naathing I come from Barcelona ?

As an Air France pilot operating out of CDG, I can assure you many of us wish for English to be the standard language on freq.
Resistance mainly comes from ATC...

Further to the suggestion by LMX try listening for the phrase "¿Hay moros en la costa?"

The literal translation would be "Is the coast clear?" but when ATC are jumping a local ahead of you it means "Spanish stick together............"

Well, reply in English to any ATC transmission in French. That way everybody's SA is enhanced - this is a SAFETY issue. May be ATC will get the message eventually.....

A4