Seconds after disaster: An EasyJet flight from Gatwick with 179 people on board came within 50 meters of a plane waiting to take off after a traffic control error at Bordeaux airport, a report says

An EasyJet passenger plane with 179 people on board came within 54 meters of another flight as it tried to land in Bordeaux after an air traffic controller “forgot” that a plane was already on the runway, a report said.

The Airbus A320, traveling from Gatwick in London, was landing at Bordeaux-Mérignac Airport on New Year’s Eve last year when an air traffic control error meant it was allowed to land while another aircraft prepared to take off to rise

A French investigative agency has now classified the collision as a “serious accident”. They watched the ATC and forgot that the smaller DR400 was on the runway as they cleared the 123-foot-long A320, which weighs up to 172 tons, to land on the same runway.

According to a BEA investigative report, on the day of the near miss, the team leader reduced the number of inspectors from six to three.

Just seven seconds after telling the EasyJet flight it was safe to land, an air traffic controller told it to abort the approach. The plane was now only 40 meters above the ground.

The report cites several factors that contributed to the near-disaster, including a “significant reduction in staffing” that left one air traffic controller running four stations simultaneously, “potentially leading to an oversight.”

The investigation concluded that the “awareness and proactive actions” of the DR400 pilot, who intercepted communications and alerted air traffic control, prevented the error from becoming a potentially devastating accident.

File image of an easyJet A320 Airbus. One of the company’s planes was carrying 179 passengers when it landed at Bordeaux airport last December, narrowly avoiding disaster

A shocking photo in the BEA report showed the large A320 aircraft approaching while the DR400 was still on the runway.

The investigation, translated from French, concluded that the air traffic controller cleared the DR400 to proceed to the runway, but due to wake turbulence it held its position while the easyJet A320 waited for clearance to land.

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As traffic became “very heavy”, the air traffic controller then cleared the A320 to land, “forgetting the presence of the DR400 on the threshold”.

“When the DR400 pilot recognized at threshold 23 that the A320 had been cleared to land, he reported to the air traffic controller, who immediately instructed the A320 to abort the approach.”

The air traffic controller reportedly looked “lost” when the Airbus asked for guidance.

According to the report, the aircraft, now at an altitude of 232 feet and 3,280 feet (1,000 meters) above runway threshold 23, flew over DR400 at an altitude of 178 feet.

The DR400 was later cleared to take off and the A320 managed a safe landing “without any unusual events” on the second attempt.

The report said the Airbus crew were both “experienced in their duties” – one with 9,000 and the other with 2,100 flight hours – although one “stated that he did not understand the French language well” while waiting for permission Country.

But it was the DR400 pilot’s quick thinking that averted disaster; The pilot, who was flying recreationally, was not qualified to use English-language telephony, but understood that the air traffic controller was giving the Airbus clearance to land as he prepared to take off on the same runway.

“The command found him strange,” BEA noted. At the time, he could not imagine that the air traffic controller had forgotten that he was waiting for departure and “believed that situational awareness would be shared”.

Nevertheless, he reported that he was still on the runway, giving the team seconds to avoid disaster.

The F-GTZY DR400 that was on the runway when an Airbus drove by last December

The incident took place in “good weather and little wind,” the report said.

easyJet told MailOnline today: “We are aware of the report of the ATC error, which confirms that our pilots followed procedures at all times.”

“The safety of our passengers and crew is always our top priority and we will always cooperate with safety investigations.”