On Sunday evening, a Nouvel Air plane nearly collided with an EasyJet plane as it prepared to take off. The latter’s captain, in disbelief, eventually cancelled the flight. A passenger testified.
On Sunday, September 21, three meters separated two planes at Nice Airport (Alpes-Maritimes).
That evening, Érard, 29, was preparing to board an easyJet aircraft (EJU4706) to Nantes. “We were supposed to take off around 8 p.m.,” he replies nervously. “We were simply told that boarding would be a little delayed.”
Initially, there was little cause for concern, which was sensible considering the poor weather. Thunderstorms and heavy fog strike the Côte d’Azur at the same moment. One hour passed, then two. The flight was first announced to be cancelled; however, the decision was changed.
Once on board, Érard, seated in 19F, noticed that the plane changed runways several times but still hadn’t taken off. It was after 11 p.m., drinks and snacks were beginning to be distributed, and then the announcement of an imminent departure was finally made. “The plane was preparing to take off when we heard a huge engine noise, right next to it. With the storm, the noise was deafening. Everyone froze.”
In reality, a plane from the Tunisian airline Nouvelair, on approach to land, had just brushed past the easyJet plane—within three metres—before going around to regain altitude and avoid disaster.
While Érard assures us that panic was felt in the cabin, it was even more so in the cockpit. “We saw the captain leave the cockpit. He was crying, his hands were shaking. He told us, ‘We avoided a crash,’ saying it had been a close call by three metres. Several people started crying. He added that he was not able to carry out the flight.” The passengers were immediately disembarked and the flight was cancelled.
“I was scared, of course,” admits Érard. “I’m still happy to be able to talk about it,” he laughs. An investigation has been opened. The captain of the easyJet flight reportedly claimed that the control tower was not at fault. It was rather an error on the Nouvel Air flight, caused by fog.
The outgoing Transport Minister spoke of a “major incident” and a “near-miss collision . ” “I immediately requested that an investigation be opened by the Bureau of Investigation and Analysis (BEA) to shed full light on the precise circumstances of this event,” he wrote on the social network X.
For its part, the BEA confirmed this afternoon that the easyJet plane was ” ready for takeoff ” and that the Nouvelair plane had “performed a go-around .” However, it cautioned against any hasty interpretations. “This is a serious incident. Both aircraft were grounded in order to seize the black boxes. We must gather statements from both crews and air traffic control, analyze radar data, and all the circumstances, including weather,” the investigation office said.
