On January 11, 2006, a Bombardier CL-600-2B19 (registration EC-JEN) was involved in an aviation accident near Aeropuerto de Valencia (Valencia / València), ES. No fatalities were reported. This summary draws on records from the Spanish Civil Aviation Accident and Incident Investigation Commission (CIAIAC).
On January 11, 2006, a signaller's vehicle struck the right wing of Air Nostrum flight ANS8831 at Valencia Airport. The collision caused minor aircraft damage, destroyed the vehicle, and injured the signaller.
Incident Overview and Location On Wednesday, January 11, 2006, at 05:49 UTC, a ground collision occurred at Valencia Airport. The incident involved a signaller's vehicle and the right wing of aircraft EC-JEN, a Bombardier CL-600-2B19 operated by Air Nostrum. The aircraft was stationary at holding point H1 on runway 30 when the impact took place. The collision resulted in minor damage to the aircraft, the destruction of the signaller's vehicle, and a 30-minute closure of the airport. The accident report was approved on March 28, 2007, as part of technical report A-002/2006. The aircraft was equipped with two General Electric CF-34-3B1 engines. The flight was a regular commercial passenger operation in the taxiing phase. The crew consisted of a 31-year-old pilot in command with 3,812 total flight hours and 558 hours on type, and a 42-year-old co-pilot with 2,121 total flight hours and 547 hours on type. Both held commercial pilot licenses. The aircraft carried seven passengers and four crew members, all of whom were uninjured. The signaller, the only person in the vehicle, sustained head and right eye injuries and symptoms of concussion. The vehicle, a Peugeot Partner, was completely destroyed, with damage to the roof, front windshield, and left side window. The aircraft sustained damage to the right wing tip, extending 1.24 meters from the wingtip inward, without any fuel leaks. The airport closure caused departure delays and diversions of inbound traffic to other airports. The aircraft at the runway threshold departed at 06:20 UTC. Holding point H1 remained closed until the aircraft was towed away and the area was cleaned. The impact occurred from the trailing edge toward the leading edge of the right wingtip. The vehicle stopped approximately 50 meters in front of the aircraft. The signaller exited the vehicle on his own. Firefighters, airport medical services, and the duty executive responded to the scene. The aircraft was deemed inoperable, and the seven passengers and four crew members were disembarked and transported to the apron without injury. The proximity of the accident location to runway 12/30 necessitated the 30-minute airport closure. The aircraft's nose wheel was slightly displaced to the left of the taxiway centerline and slightly behind the stop bar. The CRJ600-2B19 has a wingspan of 21.23 meters, placing the wingtip near the taxiway edge. The lowest part of the wingtip termination is at a height of 1.676 meters, and the highest part at 2.90 meters. The vehicle dimensions were 1.858 meters in height and 1.724 meters in width. The vehicle roof was positioned 18 centimeters above the aircraft wing. The right side of the vehicle was 48 centimeters to the right of the wingtip. The vehicle was traveling near the taxiway edge, estimated at a distance of 10.5 meters from the centerline. The impact was frontal from the trailing edge, with the vehicle roof detaching upon contact with the lowest horizontal part of the trailing edge of the right wingtip. The aircraft had taxi lights, approach lights, navigation lights, and anti-collision lights. The aircraft also had a logo light on the vertical stabilizer, which was not illuminated at the time of the accident. The aircraft had fixed navigation lights (red on the left wingtip, green on the right wingtip, and two white on the rear of the vertical stabilizer), a taxi light on the left wing, and red flashing anti-collision lights. The signaller's vehicle had standard headlights and a roof-mounted light panel for aircraft guidance. At the time of the accident, the vehicle's low-beam lights were on. The impact area had operational green taxiway centerline lights and blue taxiway edge lights. Reflective paint on taxiway markings and location signs were in good condition. Two roads are located near the airport, one in the south and one to the east, with the latter converging and tangential to taxiway A at the accident location. The separation between the taxiway A centerline and the road at this point is approximately 50 meters. The road is two-way with two lanes in each direction and is illuminated by streetlights on both sides. Taxiway A at holding point H1 has areas partially obscured from the Valencia control tower due to trees, which can obscure light and even medium traffic. At the time of the accident, 05:49 UTC in January, it was completely dark. Meteorological reports before and after the accident indicated 7,000 meters visibility, no wind, and no other phenomena affecting ground visibility, with high humidity. The METAR at 05:30 UTC showed wind 5 kt from 310 degrees, visibility 7,000 meters, clouds at 2,500 and 3,000 feet, temperature 8 degrees Celsius, dew point 7 degrees Celsius, QNH 1,030 hPa, and no changes expected. The METAR at 06:00 UTC showed wind 3 kt from 270 degrees, visibility 7,000 meters, clouds at 2,500 feet, temperature 7 degrees Celsius, dew point 6 degrees Celsius, QNH 1,030 hPa, and no changes expected. The control service at Valencia Airport on the night of the accident had three controllers assigned, two of whom were on rest, with the third providing the control service. ATC communications from 05:00 to the accident showed a total of five movements. The maximum number of aircraft simultaneously on frequency was two, except at 05:47 when the Alitalia flight (AZA085) called after takeoff, at which time two aircraft were operating at the airport. The ATC communications in the three minutes before the accident included: at 05:46:38, TWR instructed Iberia 1343 to enter and hold runway 30; at 05:46:42, Iberia 1343 acknowledged; at 05:47:26, TWR instructed ANS8831 to taxi to Hotel 1; at 05:47:30, ANS8831 acknowledged; at 05:47:40, AZA085 reported a possible object loss during takeoff and advised a runway inspection; at 05:47:44, TWR acknowledged; at 05:48:10, TWR called the signaller; at 05:48:12, the signaller responded; at 05:48:13, TWR explained the Alitalia notification; at 05:48:22, the signaller asked if he should enter via Hotel 1; at 05:48:26, TWR replied 'wherever you want'; at 05:48:31, Iberia 1343 reported being aligned; at 05:49:58, ANS8831 reported the signaller collision. When the AZA085 call was made, Iberia 1343 and ANS8831 had been authorized to enter the runway and taxi to holding point H1, respectively, so during the signaller's communications and movement from his cabin, these aircraft were taxiing to their authorized positions. The pilot of EC-JEN reported that with the aircraft completely stopped at H1, they felt a strong impact on the right side, with the signaller's vehicle passing by destroyed. They shut down the engines as a precaution and requested firefighters and medical services from ATC. The signaller stated that they had already performed the routine morning inspection at 05:00 UTC and subsequently heard on the tower frequency that the Alitalia aircraft had lost something.
