Review urged as planes come within metres of each other
Air traffic controllers at Dublin Airport have been told to review procedures for queuing aircraft after a near collision between two planes at a “hot spot” near the runway last year.
The wing of a Ryanair aircraft came within 3m of the cockpit of an Aer Lingus plane as both were in a holding pattern awaiting clearance for take-off on May 19, according to a report by the Air Accident Investigation Unit (AAIU).
It said the Irish Aviation Authority should amend its procedures at Dublin Airport to ensure mandatory sequencing instructions are issued to aircraft which are in a queuing situation and merging from different approaches.
Although no collision occurred, the AAIU said the safety margin of clearance between the planes was “seriously eroded”. The AAIU said the area where the incident took place is the location of two ground collisions in the past four years and has been identified as a “hot spot” at Dublin Airport.
The AAIU said both aircraft were on different frequencies so were unaware of instructions being issued to the other pilot. The Ryanair pilot said he was about to query if he should go ahead of the Aer Lingus plane when he heard an instruction to the other aircraft to give way to him. However, he had mistaken the instruction as it was intended for another Aer Lingus plane behind the Ryanair aircraft.
Aware of the proximity of the aircraft, both the Aer Lingus pilot and air traffic controller issued a call to the Ryanair pilot to hold his position but it went unanswered because he was on the other frequency.
The AAIU said the incident could have been avoided if the air traffic controller had issued sequence information to the Ryanair aircraft or if both aircraft had been transferred to the same frequency.
