Description

On 28 April 2000, a British Airways Boeing 747-400 on go around at London Heathrow Airport, UK, had a loss of separation vertically from a British Midland AIRBUS A-321 stationary on the runway waiting for take-off.

Synopsis

The following is extracted from the synopsis of the official AAIB Report:

"The incident occurred at London Heathrow Airport when Runway 09R was being used for take off and Runway 09L…for landing. At the time, the ATC controller with responsibility for Runway 09R was a mentor who was supervising a trainee. There was a local procedure whereby aircraft could land on Runway 09R if traffic conditions allowed.

With one aircraft [A321]…still on the runway…[the B747] was instructed to go-around at a late stage of its approach. During this procedure, the aircraft performing the go-around descended to 118 feet…above the runway; the aircraft on the runway had a tail fin height of 38 feet 7 inches.

The investigation revealed the following causal factors:

• The ATC mentor allowed the situation to develop to the point where …[The B747]…could not be safely integrated with the departure of…[the A321]
• When this became apparent, the initial actions of the mentor, on taking control of the RTF, were inappropriate."

Related Articles

• Loss of Separation

Further Reading

• For further information, see the full AAIB Report