Published6. February 2024, 09:07
Air transport: An Easyjet plane almost crashed in Lake Geneva
A plane with 157 passengers on board came much too close to the waters while on approach to Geneva Cointrin airport.
An Easyjet Airbus, with 157 passengers on board, found itself dangerously close to the surface of Lake Geneva on November 5. (Illustrative image)
AFP
An Easyjet Airbus, with 157 passengers on board, found itself dangerously close to the surface of Lake Geneva during its approach to Geneva Cointrin airport on November 5, the “Tribune de Genève” revealed on Tuesday.
For a still unexplained reason, the Airbus A320 Neo registered G-UZLO, which was flying from Edinburgh in Scotland to Geneva, found itself some 230 meters from the surface of the water, at a place where its altitude should have been more than three times higher.
Go-around
“During the approach to runway 22, the aircraft descended significantly below the glideslope and the flight crew initiated a go-around,” confirms the Swiss Safety Investigation Service – l The authority responsible for carrying out investigations into accidents and incidents occurring in particular in the field of civil aviation – in a very succinct so-called first information report published on January 16.
Easyjet is a low-cost airline created in 1995 and has never experienced a crash. Geneva airport is one of the main hubs of the company, which is the second low-cost airline in Europe, behind Ryanair.
According to the “Tribune de Genève”, the control tower at Geneva Cointrin airport alerted the crew at the same time as they were also warned of the altitude being too low by the on-board warning system.
Human error?
For the moment, there is no explanation for the fact that the plane was flying much too low, but a pilot and a former air traffic controller, who wished to remain anonymous and interviewed by the newspaper, seem to point the finger human error.
“I don’t know what happened in the cockpit that day, but that’s where the key to the explanation must lie,” analyzes the pilot interviewed by our colleagues.
The geographical specificities of Geneva and the approach attributed to the plane coming from Scotland could have played a role in the incident, because it asks the crews to begin a rapid descent after passing the Jura, underlines the daily .
The company questioned by AFP did not respond immediately but indicated to the “Geneva Tribune” that the pilots were temporarily suspended from their duties, “which is consistent with Easyjet’s practices and procedures.”
(afp)