TWO AIRCRAFT carrying a total of 235 passengers and crew were involved in a near miss at Dublin airport in what has been described as a “serious incident” by the Air Accident Investigation Unit.
A Germanwings Airbus with 125 passengers and five crew was about to touch down at Dublin airport when its pilot spotted another aircraft on the runway.
A Turkish Airlines jet with 99 passengers and six crew on board failed to comply with air traffic control instructions and entered an active runway without permission, the investigation unit found.
The two aircraft came within just 144ft of each other before the Germanwings pilot initiated a “go around”, climbing to 3,000ft. The craft subsequently landed safely.
The German flight had flown to Dublin on October 16th last year. On its final approach the pilot told air traffic control: “We’re going around, there’s entering the runway.” The Turkish flight had been cleared to taxi in preparation for take-off, and to hold short of the active runway. The pilot told investigators he was distracted by “heads-in” tasks in the cockpit and did not see or correctly interpret signage for the holding position.
The Irish Aviation Authority has advised Turkish Airlines to amend its procedures so pilots maintain an external lookout at all times during taxiing and that crew conduct a verbal cross-check when about to enter a runway.
