Background
On Friday, 29 April 2022, at 21:40 local time (19:40 UTC) in night conditions, two aircraft crossed paths on runway 06R at Josep Tarradellas Barcelona-El Prat Airport. The aircraft involved were an Airbus A320-216, registration EC-KLT, operated by Vueling, on approach to runway 02, and a Boeing 737-800, registration EI-EPA, operated by Ryanair, on take-off from runway 06R. Both flights were commercial international passenger services under instrument flight rules.
Incident Sequence
The airport had changed its operating configuration 12 minutes before the event, from the WRL daytime preferred configuration (runway 24R for arrivals and 24L for take-offs) to the ENR night-time preferred configuration (landings on runway 02 and take-offs on runway 06R). This change required manual modifications to the information display system at each controller position. At position 2, the local controller responsible for take-offs on 06R and arrivals on 02 did not update the arrival runway in the general information window (VIG). Consequently, the system calculated longer times and distances to the threshold for inbound traffic, as it assumed arrivals were on runway 24R instead of runway 02.
At 21:39:09, the local controller cleared the aircraft taxiing for take-off from runway 06R, believing the approaching aircraft was farther away than it actually was. The aircraft on take-off had not rotated and was on the first third of the runway. At 21:39:57, a proximity conflict alert (VIO) was triggered. The aircraft on approach initiated a go-around as instructed by ATC. The minimum separation between the two aircraft was 285 m horizontally and 59 ft (18 m) vertically.
Investigation Findings
The investigation focused on the service provided by the Barcelona control tower as the most significant factor. The probable cause of the incident was identified as the issue of a clearance to take off from runway 06R with traffic on approach to runway 02 at less than the 4 NM distance established for the ENR configuration. The aircraft on approach was managed according to ATC instructions, and the aircraft on take-off followed its clearance. The report contains four safety recommendations addressed to ENAIRE, the organisation responsible for air traffic control service at Barcelona control tower.