What happened
On 30 October 2009, a DHC-8-402, Dash 8, registration G-JECL, was performing the fourth sector of a multi-leg flight sequence at Exeter Airport. Following an uneventful pushback and start, the crew received taxi clearance from Air Traffic Control (ATC) to proceed to Holding Point Alpha One for Runway 08. The crew correctly read back this instruction.
During the taxi phase, the commander requested that the co-pilot perform the taxi checks. However, the co-pilot was primarily focused on the checklist items rather than monitoring the taxi progress. While taxiing, the commander mistakenly reverted to a previous clearance, leading the aircraft to cross Alpha One and line up on Runway 08, despite only being cleared to the holding point.
Simultaneously, a Boeing 737-5H6, registration G-PJPJ, was landing on Runway 26. The crew of G-JECL did not notice the landing of the Boeing 737 because they had not registered the aircraft's landing clearance on the frequency. The incident was only identified when the co-pilot noticed moving lights on the runway, which the commander initially mistook for a vehicle. The Tower controller subsequently intervened, notifying the G-JECL crew that the clearance they were operating under was incorrect and that traffic had just landed on the opposite runway.
The investigation
The AAIB investigation involved a review of the flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder from G-JECL, as well as flight data monitoring from the Boeing 737. ATC tapes were also examined to reconstruct the sequence of communications.
The investigation established that the commander was unfamiliar with Exeter Airport, as he was based in Guernsey. Furthermore, the crew was attempting to recover time after previous sectors had been delayed by at least 15 minutes. The investigation also noted that the co-pilot was preoccupied with the taxi checklist, and the crew had been discussing a previous departure from the airport, which likely conditioned them to expect a similar clearance to the one they actually received.