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.

FMI: www.osl.no/index.asp?languagecode=9