On Oct 11th, 2024, a Vueling Airbus A320-200, registration EC-MGE, operating flight VY-3154 (call sign VLG4CX) from Jerez de la Frontera to Palma de Mallorca, came uncomfortably close to another aircraft during landing, resulting in a serious runway separation incident.
The A320, carrying 157 passengers and 6 crew, was on final approach to runway 24L at Palma and had been cleared to land. Ahead of it, a NetJets Embraer Phenom 300, registration CS-PHG, was still on the runway following its own landing. Despite the runway not yet being vacated, the A320 crossed the threshold and touched down, with the Embraer leaving the runway approximately five seconds later. The minimum recorded separation between the two aircraft was just 0.9 nautical miles.
Spain’s accident investigation authority, CIAIAC, classified the occurrence as an incident and released a detailed technical report outlining both the sequence of events and the underlying causes. The investigation concluded that both air traffic control and the Airbus A320 flight crew accepted a progressive loss of separation without taking corrective action, which ultimately led to both aircraft overlapping on the runway environment. A contributing factor identified was the delay in speed reduction by the A320 crew during the approach.
According to the report, air traffic control made multiple attempts to slow the A320 in order to maintain safe spacing. The final approach controller first instructed the aircraft to reduce speed to 210 knots, followed by 190 knots 31 seconds later. At that point, the A320 was still flying at 220 knots, significantly faster than published speeds for that segment of the ILS Z approach to runway 24L. Further instructions followed—down to 160 knots, and eventually to minimum approach speed—as controllers repeatedly warned that the preceding Embraer was slowing and the gap was closing.
Despite these instructions, the A320 was unable to decelerate at the rate required. As separation dropped below 3 nautical miles, controllers continued to advise the crew of the Embraer’s position and speed, at times noting the distance had fallen to 2.5 NM and later under 2 NM. The A320 crew responded that they could not reduce speed any further, yet did not propose or initiate a missed approach. The aircraft ultimately received landing clearance only moments before crossing the runway threshold, while the Embraer was still on the runway.
CIAIAC concluded that, given the rapidly diminishing separation and runway occupancy, the safest course of action would have been a missed approach. The incident highlights how a combination of high approach speed, delayed deceleration, and acceptance of eroding separation by both controllers and flight crew can quickly escalate into a high-risk situation, even in otherwise routine landing operations.
