a milestone report, worth reading : t’s arguing about the bad habit in Charles De Gaulle airport ( in all France ? ) of using two languages for radio communications.  

Damage of the Streamline Aviation Shorts 330 (G-SSWN) – flights IJ8807 – SSW200

Air Liberté Streamline Aviation flights IJ8807 SSW200 : the MD 83 registered F-GHED was cleared to take off from runway 27 at Paris Charles de Gaulle.

The Shorts 330 registered G-SSWN was then cleared to line up and to wait as “number two”.
The controller believed that the two aircraft were at the threshold of the runway, whereas the Shorts had been cleared to use an intermediate taxiway.
The Shorts entered the runway at the moment the MD 83 was reaching its rotation speed.

The tip of the MD 83’s left wing went through the Shorts 330’s cockpit and hit both pilots. The MD 83 aborted its takeoff.

implementation for the systematic use of the English language for air traffic control at Paris Charles de Gaulle aerodrome

The accident was caused:

• Firstly, by the LOC controller’s erroneous perception of the position of the aircraft, this being reinforced by the context and the working methods, which led him to clear the Shorts to line up,
• Secondly, by the inadequacy of systematic verification procedures in ATC which made it impossible for the error to be corrected,
• Finally, by the Shorts’ crew not dispelling any doubts they had as to the position of the “number one” aircraft before entering the runway.

Contributory factors include:

• Light pollution in the area of runway 27, which made a direct view difficult for the LOC controller.
• Difficulty for the LOC controller in accessing radar information: the ASTRE image was difficult to read and the AVISO image not displayed at his control position.
• The use of two languages for radio communications, which meant that the Shorts crew were not conscious that the MD 83 was going to take off.
• The angle between access taxiway 16 and the runway which made it impossible for the Shorts crew to perform a visual check before entering the runway.
• The lack of co-ordination between the SOL and LOC controllers when managing the Shorts, exacerbated by the presence of a third party whose role was not defined.
• A feedback system which was recent and still underdeveloped.