On Dec 2nd 2025, a Dan Air Airbus A319-100 experienced a tense and potentially dangerous situation while approaching Bacau, Romania, after repeated navigation system failures caused the aircraft to deviate significantly from its intended approach path.
The aircraft, registered YR-URS, was operating flight DN-402 from London Luton to Bacau, a service that had departed the previous day, Dec 1st. As the jet descended toward its destination, the flight crew began receiving repeated ECAM alerts indicating “NAV GPS 1 and 2 FAULT,” effectively degrading the aircraft’s primary navigation accuracy at a critical phase of flight.
Despite a high-precision approach being available, the crew soon realized the aircraft had drifted about four nautical miles to the right of the localizer. While attempting to re-establish both localizer and glide slope guidance, the situation escalated when the Enhanced Ground Proximity Warning System issued a TERRAIN alert, signaling a potential risk of controlled flight into terrain.
Reacting immediately, the pilots initiated a climb to FL110 and requested radar vectors to safely intercept the final approach path once again. With air traffic control assistance, the crew stabilized the approach and landed safely on runway 34 about 25 minutes after abandoning the first attempt.
Romania’s Aircraft Investigation and Analysis Authority (SIAA) has since opened a formal investigation into the occurrence, classifying it as a serious incident. The investigation will focus on the navigation system failures, crew workload during the approach, and the sequence of events that led to the terrain warning.
