By Farah Mokrani
Copyright euroweeklynews
Passengers at Nice Airport endured a terrifying scare late on Sunday night when two planes came within a whisker of colliding. What should have been a routine landing turned into a heart-stopping moment that left travellers shaken and aviation authorities scrambling for answers.
A frightening near miss
It was around 11.30 pm on September 21 when Nouvelair flight BJ586 from Tunis made its approach into Nice. The weather could hardly have been worse – sheets of rain pounded the tarmac and visibility was so poor that even the runway lights were little more than a blur.
As the Tunisian jet descended, passengers on board an easyJet aircraft waiting to depart for Nantes suddenly felt a violent jolt. The cabin rattled, overhead bins shook, and according to one traveller, “an enormous noise filled the cabin as another plane roared just above us – the pilots later told us it was about three metres away.”
The Nouvelair pilots reacted in an instant, slamming the engines to full thrust and pulling the aircraft sharply back into the night sky. The move almost certainly averted disaster.
Confusion and questions
At first, rumours spread quickly: had the Nouvelair crew lined up on the wrong runway? Was it human error, or a breakdown in communication with air traffic control? Nice-Matin reported that the pilot had mistaken his landing path. The airport, contacted by local media, confirmed that “the pilot appears to have made an error” and added that the crew performed a go-around to avoid impact.
France’s Bureau of Enquiry and Analysis for Civil Aviation Safety (BEA) is now leading the investigation. Outgoing Transport Minister Philippe Tabarot wasted no time in ordering the inquiry, saying it was vital to “shed full light on the circumstances of this serious incident.”
For the passengers, though, the official explanations mattered little in the moment. What they will remember is the panic on board, the screams, and the realisation of just how close they had come.
Nouvelair defends its crew
Nouvelair broke its silence the next day, stressing that the incident unfolded in “particularly difficult meteorological conditions, marked by heavy rain and extremely reduced visibility.”
The airline, which has been flying for more than 36 years, was keen to underline its safety record. In its statement, Nouvelair reaffirmed that passenger and crew safety is its ‘absolute priority’ and said it was cooperating fully with investigators.
“All our operations are carried out in strict accordance with international standards,” the airline added, promising to provide “any support necessary to ensure the smooth running of the investigation.”
It was a message designed not only to reassure passengers but also to defend its pilots, who were faced with a nightmare scenario on approach to one of Europe’s busiest airports.
A night to remember
EasyJet cancelled the Nantes service, rebooking passengers onto other flights. Nouvelair’s jet, after circling, eventually landed safely in Nice.
By Monday morning, images of long queues and frustrated travellers filled social media. But behind the inconvenience lay a sense of relief. A few metres and a few seconds had been all that separated the incident from becoming a tragedy.
Aviation experts note that while such close calls are rare, they are taken extremely seriously. Investigators will look at every detail – from weather reports and radar data to cockpit recordings – to understand what went wrong.
For those on board, the memory will linger far longer than the headlines. As one passenger summed it up: “We were ready to take off, then suddenly it felt like the sky fell on us. It was the scariest moment of my life.”
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