– Easyjet plane almost crashed into Lake Geneva
If the pilots hadn’t given thrust at the last second, an Airbus would probably have landed in the water while approaching Geneva last November. An investigation has been launched.
Published: February 6, 2024, 9:17 am
Just taken off: An Easyjet airliner at Geneva Airport.
Photo: Martial Trezzini (Keystone)
The message was short and sweet. The Swiss Security Investigation Board (Sust) announced on January 16 that it had opened an investigation into an incident that was classified as “serious” on November 5, 2023. The reason: The plane EZY3291 coming from Edinburgh with 157 passengers on board “sank significantly lower than the descent line” when approaching runway 22.
The descent orientation refers to the angle that the aircraft must assume in the final phase of a landing. It is not known why the pilots of the A320 neo from Easyjet’s British subsidiary did not comply.
According to the report, the plane was separated from the water by just 230 meters, twelve kilometers from the runway “Geneva Tribune” writes. Ideally, it would be 750 meters above Lake Geneva at this point.
Low altitude triggered multiple alarms
If the angle and speed had been maintained, the plane would have plunged into the water in less than 30 seconds. Luckily, the Airbus pilots apparently gave the boost in time.
According to the newspaper, all data comes from open sources, mainly from the air tracking website ADS-B Exchange. It goes on to say that there has never been such an incident in Geneva. The dangerously low altitude of the machine triggered an alarm in the Cointrin control tower, writes the Tribune de Genève. The air traffic controllers then contacted the pilot.
He had already corrected the course himself because an alarm allegedly sounded in the cockpit. The aircraft then regained altitude, flew in a loop and landed without incident on the second attempt.
“You can’t think in a situation like this.”
“In a situation like this you can’t think. “You just give it more thrust to regain altitude as quickly as possible,” a pilot of an Airbus A320 who regularly flies to Geneva told the newspaper. He cannot explain how this dangerous situation could have come about. He assumes human error. There is also speculation that the geographical features in Geneva played a role.
It will probably take some time before there is certainty about what exactly happened that day: the Sust investigation should be completed in 18 months at the latest. Easyjet wants “an investigation by the security authorities […] “We fully support it,” as the airline told the “Tribune de Genève”. The Airbus pilots have been temporarily relieved of their duties, it is said.
Found an error? Report now.
61 comments