Incident Overview
Description
ITA Airways flight AZ611, a Airbus A330-202 (EI-EJL), contacted Air France flight AF008, a Boeing 777-228ER (F-GSPQ) during taxi for takeoff at New York-JFK International Airport, NY. At the time the flight crew of AF008 had stopped with the parking brake set while waiting for the gate personnel to finish preparing gate 9 to receive their flight at Terminal 1, The Air France crew said that their company procedure to enter gate 9 is to stop and wait for a tow. There were no ground marshalling crew present when they arrived, so they stopped, shut down the engines, and waited about 10 to 15 minutes for a tow to arrive. About the time the tug arrived, the crew said they felt the airplane move due to a “hard connection”, but they were unaware of an airplane passing behind at that time. After the airplane was parked at the gate and passengers had disembarked, maintenance informed the flight crew of damage to the elevator, and it was determined to be from the ITA Airways A330 that had passed behind. The Air France flight crew said they tried to contact the Air Traffic Control Tower to stop the ITA Airways flight, but the conversation was lengthy, and the ITA Airways flight 611 took off without receiving timely notification of the collision. A controller then contacted AZ611, reporting: “Another aircraft on the ground currently, Air France, said you hit them or something of that nature while you were taxiing. Did you experience any damage to the aircraft?” The ITA Airways pilot responded: “Negative, sir.” The flight continued to Rome, Italy, and landed normally. EI-EJL resumed service after two days while F-GSPQ was ferried to Paris on July 12. Probable Cause: The ITA Airways flightcrews misperception of the distance to maintain separation and safely pass the stopped Air France airplane.
Source of Information
https://www.lepoint.fr/societe/un-airbus-d-ita-heurte-un-boeing-d-air-france-au-sol-puis-s-envole-28-06-2022-2481235_23.php, https://www.flightradar24.com/data/aircraft/ei-ejl#2c4abbbchttps://www.lepoint.fr/societe/un-airbus-d-ita-heurte-un-boeing-d-air-france-au-sol-puis-s-envole-28-06-2022-2481235_23.php, https://www.flightradar24.com/data/aircraft/ei-ejl#2c4abbbcPrimary Cause
Misperception of distance and separation during taxi, leading to a ‘hard connection’ and a lack of timely notification of a collision.Misperception of distance and separation during taxi, leading to a ‘hard connection’ and a lack of timely notification of a collision.Share on:
