A343 / B744, en-route, south of Newfoundland Canada, 1998

Summary
On 20 July 1998, after an ATC error south of Newfoundland, an Air France A340 and an Air Canada 747-400 were on directly converging tracks and at the same level. Collision was avoided by the correct actioning of coordinated TCAS RAs by both aircraft.

Event Details
When	July 1998
Actual or Potential Event Type	Human Factors, Loss of Separation
Day/Night	Night
Flight Conditions	IMC

Flight Details
Aircraft	AIRBUS A-340-300
Operator	Air France
Domicile	France
Type of Flight	Public Transport (Passenger)
Origin	Houston Intercontinental
Intended Destination	Paris/Charles de Gaulle Airport
Take off Commenced	Yes
Flight Airborne	Yes
Flight Completed	Yes
Flight Phase	Cruise
	ENR

Flight Details
Aircraft	BOEING 747-400 (international, winglets)
Operator	Air Canada
Domicile	Canada
Type of Flight	Public Transport (Passenger)
Origin	Montreal/Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport
Intended Destination	Paris/Charles de Gaulle Airport
Take off Commenced	Yes
Flight Airborne	No
Flight Completed	No
Flight Phase	Cruise
	ENR

Location En-Route
Origin	Houston Intercontinental
Destination	Paris/Charles de Gaulle Airport

Location En-Route
Origin	Montreal/Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport
Destination	Paris/Charles de Gaulle Airport

Location
Approx.	south of Newfoundland, Canada
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General
Tag(s)	Aircraft-aircraft near miss

HF
Tag(s)	ATC clearance error, Ineffective Monitoring, Procedural non compliance

LOS
Tag(s)	Required Separation not maintained, ATC Error, Near Miss

EPR
Tag(s)	PAN declaration

Safety Net Mitigations
TCAS	Effective

Outcome
Damage or injury	No

Causal Factor Group(s)
Group(s)	Air Traffic Management

Safety Recommendation(s)
Group(s)	None Made

Investigation Type
Type	Independent

Description

On 20 July 1998, after an ATC error south of Newfoundland, an Air France A340 Family and an Air Canada 747-400 were on directly converging tracks and at the same level. Collision was avoided by the correct actioning of coordinated Airborne Collision Avoidance System (ACAS) RAs by both aircraft.

Synopsis

The following is extracted from the synopsis of the official Transport Safety Board (Canada)Report:

"Air France flight 033 (AFR033), an Airbus A340 aircraft, was en route from Houston, Texas, USA, to Paris, France, at flight level FL370 with a routing of WHALE, BANCS, and latitude 46N longitude 50W (Oceanic Track "X"). Air Canada flight 870 (ACA870), a Boeing B747 aircraft, was en route from Montreal, Quebec, to Paris at FL370 with a routing of MILLS, COLOR, and latitude 47N longitude 50W (Oceanic Track "W"). ACA870 was re-cleared from MILLS direct to latitude 45N longitude 50W (Oceanic Track "Y"). The new routing placed ACA870 on a converging track with AFR033. Approximately 30 miles west of the BANCS intersection, both aircraft received and responded to traffic avoidance and collision advisory system (TCAS) resolution advisories (RA). A loss of separation occurred at approximately 0213 Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) when the two aircraft closed to approximately 400 ft121.92 m
vertically and 1.9 nm3,518.8 m
3.519 km
11,544.619 ft
horizontally. The required separation in the airspace for these aircraft is 5 nm9,260 m
9.26 km
30,380.577 ft
horizontally or 1000 ft304.8 m
vertically."

Loss of Separation near BANCS

Related Articles

• Loss of Separation

Further Reading

• For further information, see the full TSB Report