What happened
On September 26, 2018, a Tecnam P2002 was performing a training flight pattern north of runway 10 at Poznań Airport (EPPO). During the flight, the pilot requested to land with a full stop. The air traffic controller issued an instruction to land and then vacate the runway via taxiway R. The pilot acknowledged this instruction.
Shortly thereafter, a Boeing 738 (RYR90PN) entered the frequency. The controller instructed the Boeing 738 to continue its approach and report 3 NM from the threshold. At 09:29 UTC, as the Boeing 738 reached the 3 NM mark, the Tecnam P2002 touched down and continued its rollout toward taxiway R. The controller subsequently cleared the Boeing 738 to land, noting that the preceding aircraft would vacate the runway via taxiway R.
By 09:31 UTC, the Boeing 738 had landed, but the Tecnam P2002 remained on the runway, positioned between taxiways R and A. Upon realizing the aircraft had not vacated via the assigned taxiway, the controller ordered the pilot to immediately exit the runway via taxiway A.
The investigation
The investigation focused on the communication between the pilot and the air traffic controller. When questioned about why the instruction to vacate via taxiway R was not followed, the pilot stated they had understood the instruction to be a landing with a fly-past, vacating the runway at the end via taxiway A.
Findings
- The primary cause of the incident was a misunderstanding of the air traffic controller's instructions by the crew.
- The crew repeated the instruction back to the controller with an error, which the controller failed to correct.