Nice airport: near collision between easyJet and Nouvelair plane on runway
Planes were just metres away from serious crash - inquiry opened
The incident happened on Sunday night amid fierce storms
Dan Costa/Shutterstock
A major accident was narrowly avoided at Nice Côte d'Azur airport on Sunday evening (September 21) after two planes came within seconds of colliding on the runway.
It happened when an Airbus A320 easyJet aircraft, departing in thick fog after several hours of delay caused by storms, was authorised to begin taxiing for take-off.
As it reached the runway a Nouvelair flight arriving from Tunis came in to land on the same runway, passing very close to the plane on the ground.
Eyewitness accounts say the planes were only three metres away from collision.
The pilot of the Nouvelair flight managed to re-gain speed and pull the aircraft upwards just in time to avoid crashing into the easyJet plane. The plane then circled and came into land safely later.
A pilot not involved in this incident told regional media Nice-Matin that if the two planes had crashed they would have erupted into flames and everyone onboard the two would have died.
Multiple inquiries have been opened, including one from the Nice public prosecutor for ‘endangering lives’.
Seconds from disaster
The incident happened after the easyJet service to Nantes had been given the all-clear to start taxiing towards the runway for take-off.
At 23:32, it had one final turn to make before reaching the runway to take-off, but as the aircraft was pivoting the pilots on board saw an incoming flight hurtling towards them.
It came so close that the easyJet plane was left “violently shaking”, one eyewitness told French media outlet Actu.
The video below, taken from flight tracker website FlightRadar24, shows just how close the planes came to colliding.
The pilot of the easyJet plane were visibly shaken by the incident and did not take off, bringing the plane back and delaying the flight until Monday (September 22) afternoon.
“We saw the head pilot leave the cockpit, he was crying and his hands were shaking,” one passenger on the easyJet flight told Le Figaro.
“He told us ‘we just avoided a crash’... he could not continue on with the flight,” the passenger added.
Weather conditions made vision difficult
An inquiry - led by the Bureau d'Enquêtes et d'Analyses (BEA) - has also been opened, said resigning Transport Minister Philippe Tabarot.
The easyJet pilots are quoted as saying the airport’s control tower was not at fault.
Stormy weather conditions with thick fog severely limiting vision are thought to have played a part.
The arriving plane reportedly mistook its landing runway, heading into 04R and not 04L, said a witness of the radio exchanges between the plane and the control towers to Nice-Matin.
The Nouvelair flight had already failed to land once due to the fog, said the BEA, saying it was “a serious incident” that must be looked into.
“Both aircraft were grounded in order to take the black boxes. We must gather testimony from both crews and air traffic control, analyze radar data, and all circumstances, including weather conditions,” it added.
