Investigation under way after MD-83 flew off course at less than 650ft over the city
France has barred Egyptian carrier Luxor Air from its airspace after a low approach at Nantes. The country's air accident investigation bureau BEA is formally investigating the incident, in which one of the carrier's two Boeing MD-83s flew at less than 650ft (200m) over the western France city during a poor-weather approach to the local airport.
The incident, which took place at 02:30 local time on 21 March, has been considered sufficiently serious for the BEA to open an inquiry. The French transport department has informed its counterparts in other European countries of the incident and its decisions. The aircraft was carrying 110 passengers and crew on a charter flight from Luxor, Egypt.
There was controversy in France in January when a Boeing 737 operated by Egyptian charter airline Flash Air crashed, killing 133 French passengers during its climb out of Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt. It was then discovered that Switzerland had banned Flash from its airspace, but the information on which the Swiss decision had been made had not been shared. Meanwhile, France's civil aviation authority DGAC says the ban on Luxor Air will remain effective until the Egyptian government has checked the airline's crew training programme, its operational documents and the aircraft's flight instruments.
Speaking about the Luxor Air incident, Eric Sesbou‚, director of France's western regional aviation authority, says that the aircraft was on a normal approach and "veered off its course. It was neither on the correct approach path nor at the right altitude." Weather conditions were poor, with rain, 30kt (60km/h) winds, and a cloud base of 450ft, according to the airport. On the first of two approaches, the aircraft had been cleared to carry out a VOR/DME approach to runway 21. Michel Wachenheim, director general of the DGAC, says the aircraft "was 2km [1nm] off its landing path", adding that this "was pointed out to the crew by the air traffic controller".
He adds that the aircraft passed over the city at a height of "under 200m".
He says there are several possible reasons for this "quite rare" incident: "The pilots were perhaps insufficiently trained or qualified for this type of approach, or they might have had the wrong technical documentation or there might be a technical cause linked to the flight instruments, which could have given the wrong indications."
A witness in Nantes says the aircraft was so low on its first approach "it almost took the top of the trees off", before increasing power and pulling sharply upwards, just missing a 10-storey building. The MD-83 landed safely at Nantes at 02:41, after a second VOR/DME approach.
CHRISTINA MACKENZIE / PARIS
Source: Flight International
