image: aerobarcelona
A new YouTube video shows a Russian 767 on final pulling up to go around at Barcelona’s busy airport on Saturday, as an Airbus A340 taxis across the runway — and the video had 2 million hits by Saturday and more than 4 million by midday today. (Update: By Tuesday afternoon, the count was close to 12 million.) The encounter may look closer than it was — an airport official told CNN there had been no danger of impact and the angle of the video didn’t make clear there was plenty of space between the two airplanes.
The official told CNN the Russian UTair crew had been cleared to land but chose to abort on their own authority. The Aerolineas Argentinas crew also had been cleared to taxi across the runway. A spokesperson told The Irish Times there was plenty of room between the two aircraft for a safe landing. It was “not about a collision or a possible collision,” according to CNN’s source, who added that the 767 landed safely on the second attempt and neither airline had submitted a complaint over the incident. Spain’s aviation authority, AENA, said the government’s Committee on Civil Aviation Incidents and Accidents will look into the incident. Miguel Angel, an aviation enthusiast, posted the video.
