A Nouvelair Airbus A320 aircraft narrowly avoided disaster at Nice Côte d’Azur Airport (NCE) after a loss of separation event during landing put them just 20 feet above an EasyJet aircraft waiting to depart.

The incident which took place on the night of September 21, 2025, involved two aircraft:

  • EasyJet Europe Airbus A320-214 (registered OE-IJZ) operating flight U24706 to Nantes (NTE)
  • Tunisia-based Nouvelair A320-214 (registered TS-INP) operating flight BJ586 to Tunis (TUN)

Before getting into the details, here are a few notes from that evening. Nice was conducting arrivals via the inner runway (04 Left), while having departing traffic take off from runway 04 Right. There was also bad weather when the incident occurred, with few clouds at 2,300 feet, cumulonimbus cloud bases at 3,000 feet, reduced visibility, and a thunderstorm with accompanying light rain.

Unfortunately, some details are still missing as no ATC voice recordings are publicly available (yet), but based on the traffic replay, the EasyJet aircraft taxied from the terminal and lined up on runway 04R ready for departure around 11:31p.m. local time.

Even though there is no information available confirming which runway the NouvelAir flight was cleared to land on, the assumption is they were given 04L as the EasyJet A320 had already lined up on 04R.

Based on the ADS-B track, the crew of the NouvelAir flight configured the aircraft to land on 04R, and may not have noticed the error due to the bad weather (assuming they were cleared to land on 04L).

According to the data, at 11:32 p.m., the NouvelAir crew initiated a go-around just before the runway threshold, crossing that point at 50 feet AGL. Passengers on board the EasyJet aircraft heard a loud rumble and felt a strong vibration throughout the cabin as the NouvelAir A320 overflew their plane. The captain also reported seeing them passing just 3 metres (~10 feet) above while on the go-around. Given that the highest point of an A320 is 38 feet above the ground, the estimation is somewhat in line, putting the loss of separation around 20-25 feet.

Flight 568 carried out a second approach, this time safely landing on runway 04L. The EasyJet crew returned to the terminal as one of the pilots was reportedly very shaken up by the incident, resulting in the flight being canceled.

The French Bureau of Enquiry and Analysis for Civil Aviation Safety (BEA) acknowledged the event, labeling it as a “serious incident”.

NouvelAir also acknowledged the incident, posting the following statement (translated):

“On September 21, 2025, around 11:30 p.m., during the landing of flight BJ586 Tunis–Nice at Nice Airport, an incident occurred under particularly challenging weather conditions, marked by very heavy rain and extremely reduced visibility.

“In accordance with current standards and procedures, an investigation has been opened to determine the exact causes and circumstances of this event.”

Given the lack of readily available ATC audio, it’s hard to make a guess as to who is to blame here. Did ATC accidentally clear the NouvelAir for 04R instead of 04L? Or did the pilots accidentally program the wrong runway?

According to local reports, it appears to be the latter. Witnesses claim that flight 568 was cleared to land on 04L. Based on the very consistent track, it’s very likely a case of them entering the wrong approach, resulting in the mix up.

With low visibility in the mix, the crew most likely did not see the EasyJet aircraft until the very last few seconds.

As I was not able to confirm the reported witness data, I’ll leave it to the French BEA to officially present their findings when the matter is investigated. In a time where every single aviation incident gets a news headline, it’s safe to say that this is one of those events that could have turned out very badly if the landing crew hand not reacted in a timely manner.