Overview
On 2 October 2018, an incident occurred involving two Boeing 737-800 aircraft operated by Ryanair. The aircraft, registrations EI-FRY (flight RYR55CB) and EI-DWW (flight FR1192), were en route at flight level 340. The incident took place near the reporting point GOSVI in Navarre, Spain. Both aircraft were in airspace controlled by the Madrid ACC. No injuries or damage were reported.
Flight History
Aircraft EI-FRY was traveling southeast from Santiago de Compostela to Palma de Mallorca. Aircraft EI-DWW was heading northeast from Seville to Toulouse. At 14:45:58, both aircraft were in contact with sector PAL of the Madrid ACC, both at FL340. At 14:54:03, aircraft EI-DWW was transferred to adjacent sector ZGZ, while EI-FRY remained in sector PAL. Both aircraft continued on convergent headings at FL340 toward GOSVI. Their separation decreased until the closest point of approach at 14:57:09, when they were 2.3 NM apart horizontally and 334 ft vertically, with EI-FRY above EI-DWW.
Personnel Information
The crew of EI-FRY consisted of a 39-year-old Spanish captain with 10,800 total flight hours (8,500 on type) and a 35-year-old Spanish first officer with 1,511 total flight hours (1,275 on type). The crew of EI-DWW consisted of a 40-year-old Irish captain with 8,220 total flight hours (7,950 on type) and a 40-year-old Italian first officer with 3,600 total flight hours (3,100 on type). Both captains held ATPL(A) licenses; both first officers held CPL(A) licenses. The executive controller in sector PAL was on duty.
Incident Sequence
The conflict was identified by the Bordeaux ACC 1 minute and 27 seconds before the closest approach (at 14:55:42). However, the actions of the controllers in sectors PAL and ZGZ did not prevent the aircraft from continuing on converging tracks. No STCA alerts were activated at either control position. TCAS resolution advisories (RAs) were received on both aircraft 9 seconds before the closest point of approach (at 14:57:00). The closest approach occurred while both aircraft were executing the TCAS RA maneuvers.
Causes
The investigation determined that the incident was caused by the failure of the PAL sector controller to identify the conflict, and the subsequent transfer of aircraft EI-DWW to the adjacent sector ZGZ without being clear of the conflict. A contributing factor was the improper handling of the conflict by the controllers in both sectors, who issued similar instructions to the two aircraft, contrary to what had been agreed previously.