Video shows close call between planes at Barcelona airport

Russian plane aborts landing when Argentinean craft taxis across its path

A close call between two passenger planes at Barcelona Airport has received more than 2 million views since it was posted on YouTube yesterday. Screengrab: Youtube/Barcelona-El Prat In’tl
A close call between two passenger planes at Barcelona Airport has received more than 2 million views since it was posted on YouTube yesterday. Screengrab: Youtube/Barcelona-El Prat In’tl

A close call between two passenger planes at Barcelona Airport has received more than 2 million views since it was posted on YouTube yesterday.

It shows the Russian UTair plane coming from Moscow about to land on the runway when another plane,from Argentinian airline Aerolíneas Argentin, taxis across its path.

The Russian Boeing 767-300 plane is forced to abort its landing and do a go-around manouevre so it pulls up and clears the Argentinian Airbus A340-300 on the ground.

After this the UTair plane comes back and lands afely on the runway while the Argentinian plane took off in the direction of Buenos Aires.

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A spokeswoman for Spanish aviation body AENA told El Mundo newspaper that the pilots were acting according with procedure and that the practice of go-around was common practice at airports.

She said the landing could have been made without any risk, since both aircraft were in the place where they belonged, with enough distance between them.

Amateur airplane spotter Miguel Angel has posted dozens of videos on his YouTube channel from Barcelona-El Prat In’tl. The airport is 12km from the centre of Catalonia’s main city.