Italian investigators are advising thorough checks on approach and navigation charts, after finding that those used by the crew of a crashed Wind Jet aircraft were not fully compliant with ICAO provisions.
While attempting to land at Palermo the Airbus A319 touched down 367m (1,205ft) short of the Runway 07 threshold, struck the opposite-direction localiser antenna and slid for 850m.
The twinjet was badly damaged in the accident and subsequently written off, although all those on board survived.
It had been conducting the VOR-Z approach to the runway, which uses terminal VOR and DME navigation aids. But Italian investigation authority ANSV said that the clarification "DME required" did not appear on the chart used by the pilots.
ANSV said this was contrary to the ICAO requirements regarding notification of the equipment necessary to conduct normal procedures. It added that a review of other charts turned up similar omissions.
The investigators have not specifically connected the discrepancies with the A319 accident in September 2010.
But ANSV has recommended that the Italian civil aviation authority ENAC and air navigation service ENAV carry out an assessment of aeronautical information publication charts to examine those which "do not fully comply" with the ICAO requirements.
Source: Air Transport Intelligence news
