Near-miss between Tecnam and Piper in Łódź TMA (SP-MEL / SP-TUE)

Incident Overview and Aircraft Involved On 12 August 2020, a near-miss occurred in the Łódź terminal control area (TMA) involving a Piper PA-34, registration SP-TUE, and a Tecnam P2006T, registration SP-MEL. The Piper was flying from Rzeszów (EPRJ) with the intention of performing a low pass over runway 07 at Łódź (EPLL) before returning to its departure airport. The Tecnam had taken off from runway 07 at EPLL and was holding at 3,000 ft over the LOZ VOR, located approximately 10 nautical miles from the airport on the runway 07 heading. ## Sequence of Events The Piper entered the Łódź TMA at approximately 09:00 local time, flying a standard instrument arrival (STAR SOXER 1R). The air traffic controller issued the Piper a clearance to approach and provided instructions for both after the low pass and in the event of a missed approach. These instructions required the aircraft to fly to the DERAM point, climb to 4,000 ft, and then proceed via LOZ and VIDEV to maintain flight level 9100. The crew correctly read back the instructions but subsequently requested permission to fly direct to VIDEV after the low pass, which the controller denied, providing information about IFR traffic at LOZ at 3,000 ft. At 09:12, the controller cleared the Piper for the low pass over runway 07. After completing the pass, the crew reported they were on the runway 07 heading and climbing to 4,000 ft. The controller immediately corrected the crew, repeating the instruction to fly to DERAM and re-stating the traffic information at LOZ. However, the Piper continued on the runway 07 heading in a collision course with the Tecnam. The controller issued an immediate command to turn north. Only after this command did the Piper crew change to a non-collision course. The controller then informed the Tecnam crew of the traffic and instructed them to depart south. The Tecnam crew reported they were departing LOZ to the north-east, which the controller accepted. ## Separation and Resolution When the Piper, flying on the runway 07 heading, was at 2,700 ft, the Tecnam was flying in the opposite direction at 3,000 ft. By the time both aircraft reached 3,000 ft, they were on diverging courses, and the distance between them increased, ending the collision situation. The minimum horizontal distance between the aircraft was approximately 3-4 nautical miles when they were at the same altitude. Once the Piper reached 4,000 ft, the controller cleared the crew to fly direct to VIDEV. ## Contributing Factors and Cause The investigation determined that the cause of the incident was the Piper crew's failure to execute the departure instructions after the low pass over runway 07. No contributing factors were identified. The controller's instructions were found to be correct, clear, and properly read back by the pilots. The Piper crew did not provide a reason for not executing the departure instructions or for the delay in following the controller's commands. No safety recommendations were formulated.