A Nouvelair A320 and easyJet A320 came incredibly close Sunday night in Nice when the arriving Nouvelair jet passed just a few feet above the easyJet plane lined up on the runway. Nouvelair performed a go-around and landed safely a short time later, while the easyJet flight returned to the gate and the flight was subsequently canceled. The French BEA has opened an investigation, classifying this as a serious incident.
What the data tells us
At approximately 21:32 UTC on 21 September, Nouvelair flight BJ586 from Tunis to Nice overflew easyJet flight U24706 as easyJet lined up to depart on Runway 04R. The Nouvelair A320 passed over the runway threshold and the easyJet flight descending through 50 feet. Nouvelair commenced a go around and landed safely 16 minutes later.
Departing traffic was using Runway 04R all evening, while arriving traffic to Nice was using Runway 04L exclusively. Nouvelair flight 586 lined up with 04R on its first approach. Air traffic control audio for Nice is not readily available to confirm the correct runway assignment, but the second approach by Nouvelair and subsequent arrivals also used 04L.
Altitude, height, and margin of error
When dealing with such small tolerances between aircraft, it is important to keep in mind the limitations of ADS-B data. ADS-B data is reported in 25 foot increments, so a reported value of 50 feet is 50 feet ± 25 feet. The following values should then be taken with those qualifications in mind.
The altitude reported by the Nouvelair flight as it passed over the easyJet A320 was 50 feet. Both the Nouvelair and easyJet flights were operated by Airbus A320-214s. The A320 has a tail height of 38 feet, 7 inches.
Flightradar24 data available for download
There are two CSV files available for download below. The data for the Nouvelair flight is granular ADS-B data saved at higher frequency intervals. The file for the easyJet flight is standard frequency.
Aircraft information
Both flights were operated by Airbus A320-214 aircraft. Nouvelair’s TS-INP began service in 2004 with now-defunt Ryan International Airlines. It then flew with Iberworld Airlines, Go Air, ArkeFly, and Koral Blue Airlines, before finding its way to the Nouvelair fleet in 2011.
easyJet took delivery of what is now OE-IJZ in 2015 new from Airbus. The aircraft was transferred to easyJet Europe and the Austrian registry in May 2018.
Weather information
The METAR at Nice indicated the presence of thunderstorms in the vicinity of the airfield at the time of the incident and the weather radar overlay confirms the location the storms.
LFMN 212130Z 12004KT 070V140 9000 -TSRA FEW023 FEW030CB BKN063 BKN090 24/19 Q1013 TEMPO VRB20G35KT 1500 +TSRA BKN014 BKN030CB
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