What happened
On November 24, 2011, at approximately 17:35 UTC, an Air France Airbus A319, registration F-GRHE, arrived at Montpellier Méditerranée Airport from Paris Orly on a scheduled domestic passenger flight. The aircraft, carrying 145 passengers and 6 crew members, landed on runway 31R and taxied toward parking stand D10.
As the aircraft approached the stand, the captain turned off the taxi lights in accordance with local procedures to avoid blinding ground personnel. The pilot followed the signals provided by a ground marshaller. During the final maneuvers, the left wing leading edge struck a passenger boarding bridge that had been improperly positioned. The crew did not realize the contact had occurred until the aircraft had come to a complete stop. The incident resulted in minor damage to the left wing leading edge.
The investigation
The investigation focused on why the boarding bridge was obstructing the aircraft maneuvering area (ZEC) and why the obstacle was not detected. It was established that the boarding bridge had been moved earlier that afternoon to allow for cleaning. While it was technically possible to perform this cleaning without encroaching on the aircraft maneuvering area, the bridge was not returned to its correct position following the task.
Investigators found that the airport's cleaning procedures did not require formal notification or a follow-up verification of equipment position. Furthermore, the ground marshaller had not verified that the maneuvering area was clear before guiding the aircraft, relying instead on the assumption that the area was unobstructed. The investigation also noted that the aircraft's taxi lights had been extinguished prior to the final turn, which reduced visibility in the dimly lit parking area.
Findings
Several contributing factors led to the collision:
- The lack of a detailed procedure governing the temporary movement of boarding bridges for maintenance or cleaning tasks.
- The ground marshaller's failure to perform a routine check of the maneuvering area for obstacles prior to the aircraft's arrival.
- The extinction of the aircraft's taxi lights during the final approach to the stand, which, combined with low ambient light, made the misaligned bridge difficult to detect.
- The absence of a formal verification process to ensure equipment was correctly repositioned after cleaning interventions.