What happened
On the evening of January 24, 2000, an Air France Airbus A320-211, registration F-GFKK, was conducting a scheduled passenger flight from Paris Charles de Gaulle to Marseille Provence. During the arrival phase, the flight crew requested a visual approach to tighten the spacing between them and the preceding aircraft in the circuit.
The air traffic controller proposed using the "secondary" runway to facilitate this maneuver. While the controller provided instructions for the secondary runway, a series of communication errors occurred. The crew of the A3 and 20-211 eventually received landing clearance for runway 32L, but the crew believed they were cleared for runway 32R. Simultaneously, a Twin Otter, registration F-GUTH, was at the holding point for runway 32R and had been authorized to line up behind another aircraft.
Due to a misunderstanding, the A320 landed on runway 32R. The pilot of the Twin Otter observed the A320 aligned on the runway axis and halted their movement, subsequently notifying air traffic control. The incident was classified as a serious occurrence, and the Twin Otter operator filed an airprox report.
The investigation
The BEA investigation focused on the radio communications between the air traffic controller and the flight crews. The investigation examined the controller's instructions regarding the secondary runway and the crew's readback of those instructions.
Investigators analyzed the radar data, which showed that the trajectories of the aircraft on the parallel runways were nearly indistinguishable. The investigation also noted that at the time of the incident, the lighting for runway 32R was turned off due to nighttime procedures, though the crew reported that 32R appeared brighter than 32L. Additionally, the crew reported an amber ECAM warning during the final approach, though the specific nature of this system fault could not be determined from the available data.
Findings
- The air traffic controller committed a verbal slip (lapsus) when confirming the alignment of the Twin Otter, mistakenly using the designation for the left runway instead of the right.
- The Air France crew did not correctly confirm the specific runway designation during their initial communications regarding the visual approach.
- A lack of clear, unambiguous confirmation of the runway assignment between the controller and the A320 crew led to the aircraft occupying the wrong runway.
- The pilot of the F-GUTH prevented a collision by observing the A320 on the runway and stopping the aircraft's movement.