Description

On 12 January 2011, a privately operated Socata TBM850 light aircraft on a flight from Antwerp to Birmingham lost radio contact with ATC whilst in Instrument Meteorological Conditions (IMC) on a non procedural approach to runway 15 prior to the issue of a landing clearance and prior to checking in on the ATC TWR frequency. It continued the approach to obtain the required visual reference before landing over the top of a DHC8-400 aircraft which had lined up ready for take off in accordance with ATC instructions. No damage or personal injury resulted from the close proximity.

Investigation

An Investigation into this Serious Incident was carried out by the UK AAIB. The incident aircraft was not required to be equipped with flight recorders, but the avionics system fitted recorded some flight parameters at one second intervals on an SD memory card which had retained details of the three flights flown on the day of the incident. Although this data was generally comprehensive, it did not include flap or landing gear selections, data relating to the integral Electronic Flight Bag or radio PTT activation. ATC recordings, including some Mode ‘S’ parameters and SMR, were available.