TORONTO – Russian pilots who were forced to abort landing to avoid a collision with another plane at Barcelona Airport Saturday have criticized air traffic controllers and those at the controls of an Argentine plane.
Captain Nikolay Limarev and co-pilot Kirill Kuzmin said they had to carry out a last-minute “go-around” when the UTair Russian Boeing 767 plane they were flying was about to touch down only to notice an Aerolineas Argentineas Airbus A340 taxi across its path.
In an interview with The Siberian Times, Kuzmin said that the Airbus A340 received orders from air traffic controllers to cross the runway after the plane, which was flying from Moscow, landed.
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Kuzmin said he heard the Argentineas Airbus A340 crew repeat the comment, “which meant that they heard and accepted it.”
“But then suddenly – and without a clear reason – the Argentinians got onto the runway just as our altitude was going below 100 metres,” said Kuzmin. “The air traffic controller clearly got confused. He went silent.
“We had nothing else to do than go on a second round. We have worked on this situation many times during training.”
According to Kuzmin, the air traffic controller said the incident was a “failure” and apologized.
Limarev added the incident “could have been serious” if the weather was not clear that day.
“The weather was fine, so after the Argentinean plane reached the runway and got onto it, we went onto a second round, not waiting for the air traffic controller’s command,” said Limarev. “It took us about 15 minutes to complete the second round. When we finished it we approached the airport again and successfully landed at El Prat.”
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Aerolíneas Argentinas said Tuesday there was never a risk of any collision and that it corroborates comments made by a spokesperson for the Spanish airports authority —Spanish Airports and Air Navigation—stated the UTair landing could have taken place without any risk as both planes were in the places they should have been with sufficient distance between each other.
“This corresponds with the information received by the Argentinian plane which indicated that it followed the instructions of the control tower at Barcelona Airport.”
An investigation into the incident has now been ordered by the Russian airline UTair and by Spanish aviation authorities.
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