History of the Flight
On 2 January 2012, a Cirrus SR22, registration N217ET, departed from Mallorca Son Bonet Airport (LESB) on a private flight to Toussus-le-Noble Airport (LFPN) with one person onboard. A Beechcraft 90 King Air, registration PH-KBB, was on an instructional flight with two occupants from Rotterdam Airport (EHRD) to Girona Airport (LEGE).
Aircraft N217ET was in radio and radar contact with Barcelona ACC Sector T1, proceeding to point KANIG at flight level 110 (FL110). Aircraft PH-KBB had been transferred from Marseille ACC to Barcelona ACC Sector T1 and was proceeding directly to point KANIG, descending to FL120. The aircraft were on convergent and opposite headings.
At 11:25:01 UTC, the two aircraft crossed each other at FL110, separated by a vertical distance of 200 feet and a horizontal distance of 0.2 nautical miles. Aircraft PH-KBB had descended from its cleared flight level (FL120) after its crew believed they had been cleared to FL90. The crossing occurred 2 nautical miles north of reporting point KANIG, formally in French airspace but under Spanish air traffic control.
Personnel Information
The pilot of aircraft N217ET, a 39-year-old French national, held a valid private airplane pilot license and class 2 medical certificate. He had 404 total flight hours, including 144 hours on the type. Both pilots onboard PH-KBB held valid commercial airplane pilot licenses and medical certificates. The pilot flying (left seat), aged 59, had 14,500 total flight hours (2,000 on type). The copilot (right seat), aged 54, had 4,423 total flight hours (2,370 on type). The executive controller for Barcelona ACC Sector T1 held a valid license and medical certificate, with an Approach Control rating since 1993. The planning controller held ratings since 2003 and 1998.
Aircraft Information
Aircraft PH-KBB, a Beechcraft C90 King Air (type BE9L), was equipped with a Honeywell KTA870/KMH880 traffic advisory system (TAS). Aircraft N217ET, a Cirrus SR22 G1000, was equipped with a Garmin TAS610 TAS. Both systems provided traffic advisories (TA) but not resolution advisories (RA). The TAS displayed conflicting aircraft as yellow circles with aural warnings ("TRAFFIC TRAFFIC" for PH-KBB, "TRAFFIC" for N217ET). Pilots were instructed not to initiate evasive maneuvers based solely on TAS information; the "see and avoid" principle remained primary.
Aids to Navigation
Neither aircraft carried flight data or cockpit voice recorders, as not required. Information came from ATC radar recordings and communications. Radar data showed N217ET established at FL110 after climbing from FL100. PH-KBB had been descending at approximately 1,300 feet per minute since 11:15, ten minutes before the incident. The descent continued through FL120 at 11:24:16 until reaching a minimum of 10,900 feet at 11:24:52, then climbed back to FL120 after ATC instruction. The cleared flight level field on radar showed FL110 for N217ET and FL120 for PH-KBB.
Communications
All communications were in English. The controller spoke fluently. For aircraft N217ET, all transmissions were complete with acknowledgments and callsign. For PH-KBB, 12 exchanges were available; full acknowledgments and callsign usage were inconsistent. At 11:18:52, PH-KBB contacted Barcelona ACC descending to FL120, cleared by French ATC. The controller instructed PH-KBB to maintain FL120 and fly the KANIG2K arrival. At 11:24:33, the controller noticed the descent and instructed PH-KBB to maintain FL120 and then to climb immediately. Three minutes before the incident, another aircraft (VLG80AB) was cleared to descend to FL90. A frequency blockage was reported at 11:19:22 and 11:19:29.
Tests and Research
The pilot of N217ET provided a statement, but its content is not detailed further in the available report.