Incident Summary
On 2 July 2022, at approximately 14:08 UTC, an incident occurred at Josep Tarradellas Barcelona-El Prat Airport involving two commercial aircraft. A Delta Airlines Airbus A330-323X, registration N803NW, was taking off from runway 24R, while a Ryanair Boeing 737-8AS, registration EI-DYO, was taxiing towards runway 24L. The Boeing had been instructed by the ground movement controller to cross the extension of runway 24R via taxiway S14. Upon reaching the taxiway, the stop bar lights were off, prompting the crew to continue crossing. Shortly thereafter, the north ground movement controller requested the Boeing to stop and hold because the A330 was taking off from the same runway. The Boeing stopped on the runway extension, and the A330 overflew it at approximately 700 feet. Both aircraft continued their flights without damage, and no injuries were reported among the 13 crew and 293 passengers on the Delta flight or the 6 crew and 166 passengers on the Ryanair flight.
Investigation Findings
The investigation conducted by the Civil Aviation Accident and Incident Investigation Commission (CIAIAC) determined that the incident was caused by a failure to adhere to procedures on the part of the local arrivals controller, who neglected to stop the flow of traffic across the S14 bypass taxiway. Two contributing factors were identified: the design of the non-preferential runway take-off checklist, and the ergonomics of the lighting control and indicating system (SMP). The investigation did not attribute blame or liability, focusing solely on technical findings to prevent future occurrences.
Safety Recommendations
As a result of the investigation, two safety recommendations were issued to ENAIRE and AENA. REC 25/23 recommends that AENA, in collaboration with ENAIRE, improve the lighting control and monitoring system at Barcelona Airport to allow monitoring from the controller's main working position. REC 26/23 similarly recommends that ENAIRE, in collaboration with AENA, enhance the same system for better monitoring capability.