2012 Bogotá TMA Airprox: N40IAV and HK-4775 (N401AV, HK4775)

Incident Overview and Location On October 16, 2012, a serious incident occurred in the Bogotá Terminal Maneuvering Area (TMA) near the VULAM position. The event involved an Airbus A320, registration N40IAV, operated by Avianca, and a Jetstream 41, registration HK-4775, operated by Easyfly. Both aircraft were engaged in regular passenger transport operations. The A320 was en route from San Andrés to Bogotá, while the Jetstream 41 was approaching the VOR Bogotá via VULAM. ## Sequence of Events At 23:41:51 UTC, the A320 (AVA9777) was authorized by the Bogotá Terminal North sector controller to fly via Mariquita and VULAM to the Bogotá VOR. The pilot subsequently requested to fly direct from Mariquita to the Bogotá VOR to avoid bad weather at VULAM, but this request was not answered by the controller. At 23:46:15 UTC, the Bogotá Arrivals planner coordinated with the Terminal North sector planner for the A320 to proceed direct, a request that was also not attended to by the sector controller. At 23:48:43 UTC, the Jetstream 41 (EFY9023) called Bogotá Arrivals, reporting a level at 18,000 feet, 26.6 nautical miles from VULAM, and was authorized to the Bogotá VOR via VULAM. At 23:49:38 UTC, the A320 made its first call to the arrivals sector, 1.6 nautical miles from VULAM, and was authorized to descend to FL190 and proceed to the Bogotá VOR. At 23:50:30 UTC, the Jetstream 41 was authorized to descend to 15,000 feet, and nine seconds later, the A320 was authorized to descend to 14,000 feet. At this time, the A320 had already crossed VULAM and was turning southeast, while the Jetstream 41 was flying between the VOR/ZIP and VULAM. ## Loss of Separation and Resolution Forty-eight seconds later, the controller became aware of the converging tracks of the two flights. The controller issued an immediate instruction for AVA9767 to turn right to a heading of 230 degrees, but the correct flight number was AVA9777. No response was received. Immediately after, the controller ordered the Jetstream 41 to turn right to a heading of 040 degrees and re-authorized the A320 to maintain 18,000 feet. The A320 reported that it had traffic in sight. At 23:51:55 UTC, the controller again instructed the Jetstream 41 to turn right to a heading of 060 degrees and the A320 to a heading of 030 degrees to the right. At this moment, the Avianca flight reported a Resolution Advisory and initiated a right turn. Once the conflict was resolved, the controller and the A320 crew discussed the clearance that had been issued. ## Investigation Findings The investigation determined that a near-collision with collision risk existed between the two aircraft. They were found to have converging headings with a horizontal separation of 2.7 nautical miles while both were descending, with a vertical separation of 600 feet. The investigation identified that communications were a contributing factor. The controller of Bogotá Arrivals, upon observing the electronic prediction of loss of separation between the Avianca and Easyfly flights, confused the identification of AVA9777 and issued instructions to AVA9767 to turn right to a heading of 230 degrees. This resulted in a loss of timely response. The investigation verified that a flight with the identification AVA9767 had been handled by the same arrivals sector controller minutes earlier, leading to the confusion between the two similar flight numbers. ## Aircraft and Personnel The A320 (N40IAV) was an Airbus A320-214, serial number 4001, with a maximum takeoff weight of 77,000 kilograms. It was carrying 6 crew members and 117 passengers. The Jetstream 41 (HK-4775) was a Jetstream 4101, serial number 41039, with a maximum takeoff weight of 10,936 kilograms. It was carrying 3 crew members and 19 passengers. All personnel on board both aircraft were Colombian nationals. No injuries were reported, and no damage was sustained by either aircraft. The pilots of both aircraft held valid medical certificates and type ratings. The A320 pilot was 37 years old with 1,944:10 total flight hours, and the Jetstream 41 pilot was 55 years old with 11,039:43 total flight hours. The air traffic controller had been in service since December 12, 1995, and held basic, aerodrome, approach, and radar licenses, as well as radar supervisor qualifications. ## Contributing Factors Meteorological conditions and navigation aids were not contributing factors in the incident. The primary contributing factor identified was the communication error by the air traffic controller, who confused the flight numbers of the two aircraft, leading to a delayed and incorrect response to the developing conflict.