GARDERMOEN--Update on Near Collision at Oslo Airport

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Near-collision at Gardermoen worst near-accident at the airport

Story Filed: Wednesday, March 15, 2000 10:31 AM EST

MAR 15, 2000, M2 Communications - There was a near-collision at Oslo's Gardermoen airport last week on March 8.

The two MD-82 aircraft, both belonging to SAS, the Scandinavian carrier, almost collided on runway eight. The departing aircraft was on its way to Bergen, Norway while the other aircraft had just arrived from Bodo, Norway. The departing aircraft was reportedly already beyond the point where the take-off could be cancelled when it spotted the other aircraft on the runway.

Human error has been given as the cause of the incident.

The two aircraft had a total of 12 crew members and 266 passengers aboard and one was on its way to the airport, while the other was taking off. The departing aircraft managed to take off only 300 metres in front of the other aircraft.

At the same time, there was reportedly also a third SAS aircraft on its way down onto the same runway. The aircraft was a MD-81 from Copenhagen, Denmark with 124 passengers and six crew members aboard.

The incident has been blamed on human error in the air traffic control tower at the airport and the incident is being investigated. The near-collision was the worst incident that has happened at the airport, according to the board of civil air traffic accident investigation. The crews of the two aircraft have been called to heard about the accident and the board has requested access to communication tapes from air traffic control, reported Aftenposten.

According to the air traffic control, it was an experienced controller who was handling the traffic at the time, but he thought that the flight from Bodo had managed to get further than it had -- and the departing aircraft was given permission to take off.

Gardermoen airport reportedly has a system that automatically gives warning if there are two aircraft on the same runway, but as it is not yet in use the safety depends on the air traffic controllers. The system to be used is 'Conflict Alert System', but according to the air traffic control, the system has not yet been approved as being 100% safe.

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