A Ryanair flight bound for Scotland had a near miss with another flight over a Spanish city at the weekend.
The Boeing 737-800 from Malaga to Glasgow Prestwick came within 400 feet of an Airbus A320-200 being operated by Tunisian airline Nouvelair, according to the Aviation Herald. Spanish air traffic controllers sounded the alarm after the Ryanair flight came within what is considered to be a dangerously close distance to other planes in the area.
A total of five planes were involved in the incident over the skies of Madrid on Saturday September 3. Airspace monitors had sought to keep the jets clear of each other in what the aviation news site called a "very complex traffic scenario".
Controllers had advised the Tunisian flight and a Ryanair plane from Rabat in Morocco to London Stansted to change course in order to avoid coming into close proximity. However, the move inadvertently led to the Novelair flight and the Glasgow plane coming "into conflict".
Pilots on the Prestwick flight were instructed by the plane's automatic warning system to take evasive action, which almost put it on a collision course with another Airbus A320 operated by Spanish airline Vueling. The aviators cancelled the manoeuvre and had to instead squeeze through a gap between the Vueling and Novelair jets, passing the Tunisian plane at a vertical separation of 400 feet, and a horizontal separation of five nautical miles, at around 35,000 feet.
International air safety standards require planes to maintain at least 2,000 feet of vertical space between one another when cruising at altitudes of more than 29,000 feet - five times more than the distance between the Prestwick jet and its Tunisian counterpart. Breaching this is known in aviation circles as a "loss of separation" between airliners.
Thankfully, the planes were able to continue to their final destinations without further incident after being sent on their way by Spanish radar-gazers. Ryanair has confirmed that it was made aware of the near-miss.
A spokesperson told The Sun: "This flight from Malaga to Glasgow Prestwick (3 Sept) was under Spanish ATC control when it experienced a momentary loss of separation while crossing Madrid. Crew acted fully in accordance with procedure and this flight continued safely to Glasgow Prestwick Airport, landing normally at 23.30pm.
"The safety of our passengers and crew are Ryanair’s no.1 priority."
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