What happened
On the morning of the incident, an aircraft departed from Oradea Airport at 08:05 local time, originally scheduled to land at Iași Airport with Bacău Airport serving as the alternate destination. Because of unfavorable meteorological conditions at the primary destination, the flight crew requested permission from Bacău ACC to divert to Bacău Airport. The air traffic controllers approved the request and provided the crew with current weather updates for the diversion site.
As the aircraft proceeded with its approach, the crew was directed to communicate with the precision approach radar (PAR) service. During this process, the crew was notified that visibility at the airport was limited to 800 meters. While the PAR service provided necessary radar assistance and data, the controllers eventually instructed the crew to execute a missed approach. This instruction was issued after the aircraft was observed drifting approximately 60 meters to the left of the runway centerline. Following the missed approach, the crew was told to climb to 900 meters and contact Bacău Tower. The tower controllers advised the crew to perform a right turn to intercept the QDM 342 degrees and noted that the runway beacon was operational. The crew continued to utilize PAR assistance for corrections during the subsequent approach and landing attempt, until the accident was reported at 09:30 local time.
Findings
- The flight was diverted from Iași Airport due to adverse meteorological conditions.
- Visibility during the approach was recorded at 800 meters.
- The aircraft was significantly off the runway centerline during the initial approach attempt.