An airplane came terrifyingly close to crashing into another plane, according to the Daily Mail. As an EasyJet plane set off from southern France’s Nice Côte d’Azur Airport, passengers were shocked to hear a loud noise from a Tunisian Nouvelair flight that was using all its force to avoid hitting their aircraft.
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EasyJet Flight Nearly Collides With Tunisian Nouvelair Plane In A 10-Feet Near-Miss Incident
This near-miss is believed to be one of the closest instances in which two passenger planes have come within collision distance of each other. The EasyJet pilot allegedly told passengers that they were just three meters (10 feet) away from the other jet.
The Times reported that the Tunisian airbus made the mistake of attempting to land on the wrong runway. This airport has two parallel runways close to one another.
Philippe Tabarot, French transport minister, confirmed this could’ve been a catastrophic crash that the two airlines “narrowly avoided.” Each plane was carrying around 150 passengers, which could’ve led to around 300 deaths.
The incident was even more difficult with the weather issues. Not only was it dark at 11:30 PM that Sunday, but heavy rain was falling, causing visibility issues.
Tunisian Nouvelair Airbus Blamed For Near-Miss
Tabarot has officially ordered an investigation by the air accident investigation branch. Airport management blamed the Tunisian jet’s pilots for the collision that nearly happened.
“It seems that the Nouvelair pilot made an error,” said airport management.
On the other hand, the EasyJet flight headed for Nantes left passengers stranded after the incident. The pilots were allegedly so shaken by the near-miss that they chose not to continue the flight.
A passenger of that flight, 29-year-old Érard, told Le Figaro, a local newspaper, of the flight crews’ reactions. The captain was allegedly in a “visible state of shock” after leaving the flight deck.
“The plane was about to take off when we heard an enormous noise of engines right alongside,” the passenger recalled. As both flights were grounded to undergo investigations, the captain told passengers the other airliner was at fault.
Although the BEA warned against making any early conclusions, they described it as a “serious incident.” Also, French media spoke with an official who confirmed that the Nouvelair aircraft approached the incorrect runway.