An air traffic controller at Nice C么te d'Azur Airport has revealed more details and defended his colleagues over the near-crash that happened between two planes in September this year.
The controller has claimed that runway lighting issues are partly to blame for the incident.
The near-crash happened on Sunday, September 21. A Nouvelair plane from Tunisia was landing when it came within three metres of an EasyJet plane heading for Nantes, which was already on the 04R runway. The crash was avoided because the EasyJet plane moved and the Nouvelair plane managed to take off again, following an emergency alert from air traffic control.
A pilot not involved in the incident told regional media Nice-Matin that if the two planes had crashed they would have erupted into flames and everyone onboard both would have died.
Multiple inquiries have now been opened, including one by the Nice public prosecutor for 鈥榚ndangering lives鈥�.
Wrong runway
The incident happened because the Nouvelair pilot was coming into land on the wrong runway, found an investigation by the French civil aviation investigator le Bureau d鈥檈nqu锚tes et d鈥檃nalyses pour la s茅curit茅 de l鈥檃viation civile (BEA).
The Nouvelair plane was coming into land on the 04R runway rather than the 04L. This triggered an audible and visual alarm in air traffic control, and the crash was hastily avoided after controllers ordered the EasyJet plane to move quickly at the last moment, and the Nouvelair pilot pulled back up.
The pilot of the EasyJet plane was visibly shaken by the incident and did not take off, delaying the flight until Monday (September 22) afternoon.
鈥淲e saw the head pilot leave the cockpit, he was crying and his hands were shaking,鈥� one passenger on the EasyJet flight told Le Figaro. 鈥淗e told us 鈥榳e just avoided a crash鈥�... he could not continue on with the flight,鈥� the passenger added.
The EasyJet pilots have already been quoted as saying the airport鈥檚 control tower was not at fault.
鈥楾hrown to the wolves鈥�
Yet, since the near-crash, air traffic controllers at Nice have been heavily criticised. Mayor of Nice Christian Estrosi even suggested that the controllers could be replaced by members of the military.
In response, one of the controllers who works at the airport has 鈥� anonymously 鈥� shared more details about the near-miss, and sought to defend his colleagues and overall profession.
鈥淭he Direction G茅n茅rale de l'Aviation Civile (DGAC, directorate of civil aviation) is not communicating, and is letting us be thrown to the wolves,鈥� he said, in an interview with France 3 C么te d'Azur.
Pilot error
The air traffic controller made several claims in defence of his colleagues, including that:
The crash was avoided because an air traffic controller told the EasyJet plane to 鈥渟tep on the gas鈥� quickly
The Nouvelair pilot had been given the correct information (to land on the 04L) by air traffic control, but the pilot made a mistake and attempted to land on 04R anyway
Air traffic control asked the Nouvelair pilot to confirm that he was landing on the correct runway. He said he was, but he was wrong. This caused the alarm to continue to sound, and led to the traffic controller to issue the EasyJet order
The Nouvelair pilot 鈥渘ever saw the Easyjet plane鈥�.
鈥淚'm not one to be alarmist, but [avoiding the crash] was nothing short of a miracle. The staff are deeply affected,鈥� said the controller.
The Nouvelair flight had already failed to land once due to the fog, the BEA has said.
Nice airport dangers?
The controller also made claims about Nice airport, which has certain characteristics that 鈥渕ake the job more difficult鈥�, he added, emphasising that different lights on different runways are particularly at fault.
He said:
Nice airport is considered 鈥榙angerous鈥� due to its location between the sea and the mountains This means that the planes are not directly visible from the air traffic control tower, so controllers have to rely on pilot confirmation
The take-off and landing runways are only 300 metres apart, in comparison to other airports, which require a minimum of 700 metres distance
Different lights on the runways make it harder for pilots, after one runway was changed to LED lights, but the other still has old bulbs that provide less light, he claimed. This causes confusion for pilots when landing, he said.
鈥淧ilots have been complaining for more than six months about a difference in light intensity in the runway lighting at Nice,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e have been regularly reporting these lighting intensity problems [to A茅roports de la C么te d'Azur (ACA), the company responsible for runway maintenance]鈥�.
In response, ACA said that 鈥渋t is compliant鈥�, and has disputed the controller鈥檚 claim that there are 鈥渉undreds of bulbs to be changed urgently鈥� and that work would begin soon. It added that 鈥渆verything is LED鈥� at Nice and that it was not aware of any planned work on the runway.
Yet, the controller also claims that 鈥渢his type of confusion already occurred鈥n the opposite direction鈥� at Nice airport 鈥渢wo months ago鈥� as a result of the lighting, he said.
ACA disputed this too, calling it "quite surprising".
Difficult conditions?
The controller also rejects the Nouvelair pilot鈥檚 defence that Nice was suffering from "particularly difficult weather conditions鈥� at the time of the near-miss.
He said that if conditions had really been that difficult, the pilot would not have been using the approach route he was, as another one is used in case of bad weather.
This claim is supported by another pilot who lands often at Nice, who about the incident on YouTube on September 25.
The airport had experienced fog and storms prior to the incident.
Lack of controller staff?
The controller said that he and his colleagues 鈥� and the profession as a whole 鈥� are suffering from 鈥渆xhaustion鈥�, due to there being only 72 controllers in Nice rather than the 90 required by the government for an airport of this size.
This figure has been confirmed by A茅roports de la C么te d'Azur and the French Civil Aviation Authority (DGAC). Recruitment for air traffic control can be slow, because only four people can be trained at a time.
He said that the problem could worsen in the next few years, as Nice is set to extend Terminal 2 and increase the annual capacity of France鈥檚 third-busiest airport to 18 million.
Yet, the controller said that 鈥渨e had a full staff鈥� on duty on the day of the incident.
Corrective measures
Despite some controversial claims, the controller said that measures had now been taken to 鈥渆nsure that this problem does not happen again鈥�.
He also said that the expansion of the airport would not increase the danger on the runways.
鈥淐ommercial considerations never take precedence over safety,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e will never allow more than 30 planes to land per hour, and the same applies to take-offs.鈥�
Now, from 20:00 to 23:00, 鈥渨hen traffic is still heavy but visibility is reduced, the safer of the two landing procedures has become the rule鈥�, he said.
This means that until further notice, the safer of the two Nice approaches will be used, and planes will not avoid flying over Cannes and Antibes as they usually do.
One downside is that residents in this area - who are already exposed to plane noise from Cannes-Mandelieu airport - will now have planes to Nice flying over. This means that the changes at Nice may cause further disruption and resident discontent, despite the improved safety.
鈥淭he residents are going to come down [hard] on us, we already know that, but we have no choice,鈥� the controller said. Overall, he said his colleagues 鈥渞eacted very well that day鈥�.
鈥淚 just want to set the record straight,鈥� he said, denying that his comments would obstruct investigations into the incident, which are continuing.
The BEA has said that it was 鈥渁 serious incident鈥� that must be looked into.
鈥淏oth aircraft were grounded in order to take the black boxes. We must gather testimony from both crews and air traffic control, analyse radar data, and all circumstances, including weather conditions,鈥� it added.
