UTair Boeing 767-300 (VQ-BSX) from Moscow and Aerolíneas Argentinas Airbus A340-300 (LV-FPV) were involved into a rather rare but dangerous incident at Barcelona airport.
Here’s an interesting video.
It shows an unauthorized runway incursion at Barcelona airport, in Spain.
According to the user who filmed the incident, Flight UT5187, a UTair Boeing 767-300 (VQ-BSX) from Moscow was on final for runway 02 when Aerolíneas Argentinas Airbus A340-300 (LV-FPV) crossed the runway to taxi to the holding point of runway 25R.
As soon as the Russian pilots saw the Airbus 340 crossing the runway, they performed a successful go around.
After the incident, the Boeing 767 landed safely on runway 02, as the footage shows.
Even if the aircraft did not come too close each other, such an incident could have had a much different outcome in case of bad weather and scarce visibility.
Needless to say, in both military and civil aviation, failure to comply with the “hold short” instruction by the Tower can be extremely dangerous, to say the least.
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I dearly hope somebody lost his job for this.
A mistake like this could kill 500+ people in poor weather/visibility conditions. I say that because a runway incursion very similar to this one happened in dense fog in Tenerife in the 1970’s. As a result, two 747’s hit each other and 583 people died, making it the deadliest aviation accident ever.
Being an airline pilot/air traffic controller is not your everyday run of the mill job. You have hundred’s of people’s lives in your hands and tiny mistakes can kill hundreds of people in the blink of an eye. Hopefully this shows you that runway incursions need to be taken very seriously and should not be a three strikes kind of thing.
Greetings to UTA crews from an ACC ATCO, it’s a pleasure to work with You.
Do oborotnovo druzia :)
No, you cannot see at 4 o’clock high from that cockpit, unless you have a very bendy body. It’s not an F16.
BCN has a history with runway 02, so I’m inclined to blame ground control.
Landing clearance would have been issued WAY before that aircraft crossed the runway, so it was clear when issued. Either the ground controller did screw up and told the pilot to cross when he shouldn’t have, or what is more likely from the wording of the article is the aircraft crossed when he shouldn’t have. This would put the blame 100% on the pilot. At that point all the controller can do is instruct the aircraft on approach to go around, which is what the aircraft did (either of his own accord or because of ATC instructions).
And while it wasn’t in fact that “close,” it was close enough. That is not acceptable separation.
The recorded radio communications will tell all with 100% certainty.