Mon, Nov 29, 2004
Norway's AAIB Is On The Case
Runway incursions apparently aren't confined to LAX. Two SAS
aircraft on the ground at Norway's Gardermoen Airport narrowly
averted collision in heavy snow last week, according to the
Norwegian newspaper VG.
A flight from Oslo to Copenhagen was reportedly taxiing toward
the airport's west runway at the same time an arriving flight from
Bergen was cleared to land. VG reports the Copenhagen-bound crew
spotted the conflict and stopped short of the runway. The newspaper
reports the controller who issued clearances to both aircraft has
been suspended, but that wasn't confirmed by Avinor, the civil
aviation administration organization in Norway.
"We have had a serious incident where Avinor has begun an
internal investigation, but on principle I do not comment on any
personnel issues," said Per Harald Pedersen, head of tower and
approach control at Norway's major airports.
Norway's Air Accident Investigation Board is also
investigating.
"As long as the case is under investigation there isn't much we
can say but we can confirm that two planers were very near each
other. Thanks to a very good performance and vigilance by our
pilots the accident was averted," said SAS information chief Siv
Meisingseth.
Another Norwegian newspaper, Dagavisen, reported last week that,
unlike commercial aviators in the US, those serving Oslo have no
procedure for confirming instructions given by controllers to
pilots on the ground. Where a read-back of the controllers
instruction is generally the norm in the States, no such read-back
is required at Gardermoen. There is one exception: Wideroe Airlines
requires its pilots to read back and confirm all instructions from
the tower.
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