Istanbul Ataturk Airport Apron Accident- 9 August 2018
There are many accidents in aviation history. While some of these accidents result in death, in some accidents there is no loss of life. A lot is learned from every accident. Let’s examine an accident that took place on August 9, 2018. The accident occurred on the apron of Istanbul Ataturk Airport…
At Ataturk Airport, the Royal Air Moroc Airlines scheduled plane, advancing from the taxiway, crashed into a parked plane belonging to Turkish Airlines (THY). The aircraft belonging to Royal Air Moroc Airlines were of the B787 Dreamliner type, and the aircraft of the Turkish Airlines was of the B777 type.
Occurrence of the Accident
The passenger plane of Royal Air Moroc Airlines was taxiing on the Ataturk airport apron. The plane was to fly to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Meanwhile, the parked THY plane, which was preparing to go to Athens, the capital of Greece, was making its preparations at the boarding bridge. The accident occurred around 17:30 local time.
The passenger plane of Royal Air Moroc Airline departed to proceed to the runway. Meanwhile, the right tail of the plane crashed into the tail of THY’s Boeing 777 type passenger plane, which was preparing to take passengers for the departure to Athens and was at the boarding bridge. Both aircraft were damaged as a result of the accident. Firefighters took action at the scene.
THY plane, whose right tail was damaged after the accident, was withdrawn from the flight. THY passengers went to Athens on another plane.
Lessons to be Learned – Ataturk Airport 9 August 2018
There are many lessons that can be drawn from this accident. First of all, it is necessary to pay attention to the apron lines at the airports. The red line behind the parking positions of the aircraft on the aprons is in a sense a safety line. When aircraft are parked, they must cross to the park position side of this red line. In addition, the apron centerline is also extremely important. Airplanes should follow the apron center line while taxiing.
In addition to all these, at some airports, air traffic controllers are also responsible for apron separations. In addition, air traffic controllers must ensure that aircraft are fully entering their parking positions. This responsibility may be the duty of other employees at some airports.
