What happened
On April 22, 2022, at 13:45 UTC, two aircraft departed from parallel runways 14L and 14R at Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas Airport within eight seconds of each other. The first aircraft, an Emirates Airbus A380-861 (A6-EEA), departed from runway 14L, followed closely by an Iberia Airbus A320-251N (EC-NER) from runway 14R.
Shortly after takeoff, the crew of the Iberia flight informed the tower they would request a deviation due to adverse weather on the next frequency. Upon contacting the approach controller, the crew initiated a left turn to avoid cloud formations. This maneuver brought the aircraft into conflict with the Emirates A380, which was climbing along its assigned departure route. The convergence led to a minimum separation of 0.7 nautical miles between the two aircraft.
Findings
Air traffic controllers at the tower attempted to manage the traffic, but the lateral separation between the two aircraft decreased rapidly. The aircraft experienced a minimum distance of 0.7 NM during the encounter. Both aircraft eventually corrected their paths, but the proximity triggered TCAS alerts.
Conclusion
The investigation determined that the deviation from the assigned flight path by the Iberia aircraft caused the loss of separation. The investigation also noted that while the controllers were managing the traffic, the rapid nature of the convergence made intervention difficult. No further safety recommendations were issued.