Description

On 14 April 2011, a Boeing 737-800 being operated by Ryanair on a scheduled passenger flight from Barcelona to Ibiza was involved in a minor collision with a stationary Boeing 767-300 being operated by American Airlines on a scheduled passenger flight from Barcelona to New York JFK whilst both aircraft were in the holding area ahead of full length departures from runway 25L. Neither flight crew was aware that a collision had taken place and the damaged sustained was not found until both flights arrived without further event at their respective destinations - although several passengers on the Ryanair aircraft had reported a collision to their cabin crew. None of the 175 occupants of the 737 or the 239 occupants of the 767 were injured. The damage to the 737 was subsequently assessed as superficial, but that to the 767 as rendering the aircraft unfit to fly without repair.

Investigation

An Investigation was carried out by the Spanish CIAIAC. Flight Data Recorder (FDR) data from both aircraft and ground radar recordings were available to the Investigation. A view of the holding area where the collision occurred taken from the Official Report is shown below: