Your news story on runway incursions (Flight International, 11-17 May) contained an incorrect statement in the last paragraph.
You state that the Shorts 330 aircraft "entered the active runway uncleared". This is false. I have attached to this letter a copy of P72 from the official French report into this accident, which is a transcript from the Shorts 330 Cockpit Voice Recorder. You can see from the highlighted lines that the Short 330 was instructed by ATC to "Line up runway two seven and wait", which was correctly acknowledged by the crew.
The statement by David Learmount implies that the crew of the Shorts 330 were at fault where as the truth is that they were complying with ATC instructions. I think you owe a public apology to the co-pilot's family and the captain (who I believe is still in the aviation industry).
Flight International is a leading world aviation magazine and as such must ensure that any report is accurate.
R Parkinson
Hampshire, UK
Editor's note: Mr Parkinson is right and we apologise. The 330 was cleared to line up, but in the bad visibility the controller did not know its position and assumed it would line up behind the Air Libert‚ Boeing MD-83 that had been cleared for take off. The 330 was, however, lining up at an intersection.
Source: Flight International
