A United Airlines Dreamliner jet almost slammed into an easyJet plane at Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport due to an air traffic controller’s mistake.
The United jet approached a runway where an easyJet Airbus plane was waiting to take off, according to a French Civil Aviation Safety report.
The air traffic controller mistakenly instructed the United pilot to land on a runway which was being used for take-offs on the day, which occurred exactly a year ago.
Just before the arrival of the United flight, an Air France jet was permitted to land on the runway due to a technical issue.
The investigation found the controller granted the easyJet plane access to the runway to prepare for take-off.
Only then was the potential collision noticed by the easyJet pilot who queried it with ATC.
The United pilot was then ordered to make an immediate go-around.
It came within about 80ft of the ground and was 250ft from the end of the runway when it aborted the landing.
The report concluded the controller was at fault, although United pilots were also partly to blame for not using the correct terms when confirming the ATC instructions.
