What happened
On the evening of January 21, 2011, a serious incident occurred at Stockholm/Arlanda airport involving two aircraft. A Belavia CRJ-200, registration EW-303PJ, was on final approach to runway 26. Just before touchdown, the commander decided to abort the landing, initiating a go-around procedure. Simultaneously, a Next Jet AB BAe ATP, registration SE-LLO, was taking off from runway 19R.
During the missed approach, the CRJ-200 failed to follow the published procedure, which required a right turn to heading 300°. Instead, the aircraft turned left to a heading of 227°, a deviation of 73°. Air traffic controllers in the tower issued three separate instructions to the crew to correct the heading. To prevent a collision, the controller managing the departing BAe ATP instructed that aircraft to cancel its planned turn and instead turn left toward heading 200°. Despite these rapid interventions by the tower, the two aircraft breached the required 3 Nm separation, reaching a minimum distance of 1.38 Nm when at the same altitude.
The investigation
The Swedish Accident Investigation Authority (SHK) examined the flight paths, radar data, and interviewed the crew of the EW-303PJ. The investigation focused on why the aircraft deviated from its assigned heading and why the separation was lost. Investigators analyzed the workload of the crew during the transition of control and the timing of the missed approach relative to the published procedure.
Findings
- The co-pilot of the CRJ-200 had low flight experience and had misjudged the approach, resulting in a "hot and high" landing attempt.
- The commander took control of the aircraft immediately before the go-around, which significantly increased his workload as he had to stabilize the aircraft while simultaneously managing the maneuver.
- The go-around was initiated approximately 2.3 kilometers ahead of the published missed approach point, which accelerated the conflict with the departing traffic.
- The commander's sudden takeover of controls likely left him with insufficient capacity to immediately execute the prescribed turn.
- The tower controllers acted swiftly to redirect the departing aircraft, which prevented a collision.