Thomson B752 at Reus on May 17th 2013, go around due to runway incursion

Last Update: September 14, 2015 / 21:35:54 GMT/Zulu time

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Photo of Thomson Airways G-OOBE, Boeing 757-200 — Thomson Airways G-OOBE, Boeing 757-200 (Photo credit: Aero Icarus / Flickr / License: CC by-sa)

Incident Facts

Date of incident
May 17, 2013

Classification
Incident

Airline
Thomson Airways

Flight number
BY-4524

Departure
London Gatwick, United Kingdom

Destination
Reus, Spain

Aircraft Registration
G-OOBE

Aircraft Type
Boeing 757-200

ICAO Type Designator
B752

A Thomson Airways Boeing 757-200, registration G-OOBE performing flight BY-4524 from London Gatwick,EN (UK) to Reus,SP (Spain) with 218 passengers and 8 crew, had been cleared to land and was on final ILS approach to Reus' runway 25 descending through about 400 feet, when the crew noticed another aircraft on the runway near the threshold and initiated a go-around. The Boeing 757 positioned for another approach and landed safely.

Spain's CIAIAC reported on Jul 16th 2013, that a private Diamond PA20 had committed a runway incursion while preparing for departure and was in the initial stages of the takeoff roll. An investigation into the occurrence has been opened.

On Sep 14th 2015 Spain's CIAIAC released their final report in Spanish concluding the probable cause of the incident was:

runway entry by an aircraft without clearance. Contributing factors were:

- lack of visual surveillance by the controller
- Use of improper phraseology

The CIAIAC reported that communication between tower and the B752 was done in English, communication with the Diamond PA20 was done in Spanish.

Tower had cleared the B752 to land on runway 25 when the PA20 reported ready for departure, was instructed "mantenga corto pista 25" and acknowledged "Manteniendo corto de pista de la 25". Another aircraft reported ready for departure and was instructed in Spanish to hold short of runway 25. The crew of the Boeing 757-200 subsequently reported going around due an aircraft at the threshold of runway 25.

The pilot of the PA20 reported in post occurrence interviews that he was holding short of runway 25 reporting ready for departure when he received instruction that he understood to taxi into position and wait. He was waiting in position when he realized the Boeing 757-200 was going around.

The controller reported that he had cleared the Boeing to land about 12nm out. When the PA20 called, the Boeing 757 was about 5nm out, and he meant to instruct the PA20 to hold short of runway 25. He subsequently turned his attention to another departure for taxiing instructions and became aware of the occurrence when he heard the engines of the Boeing spool up for go around.

The CIAIAC analysed that the controller used the Spanish equivalent of "hold short runway 25" instead of "ESPERE FUERA DE PISTA" (wait outside runway) as required by Spanish regulations. The pilot of the PA20, a relatively inexperienced student pilot on a solo flight, read back that instruction and interpreted this as an instruction to taxi into position and hold. ICAO phraseology would establish the correct instruction as "hold short of runway 25" (in Spanish MANTENGA FUERA DE PISTA). The controller used a shorter literal translation of the English phrase "hold short runway 25" which did not match Spanish regulations or ICAO recommendations.