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| Date: | Monday 2 October 2000 |
| Time: | 14:22 |
| Type: |  Airbus A330-202 |
| Owner/operator: | Canada 3000 |
| Registration: | C-GGWD |
| MSN: | 339 |
| Year of manufacture: | 2000 |
| Engine model: | GE CF6-80E1A4 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 332 |
| Other fatalities: | 0 |
| Aircraft damage: | None |
| Category: | Incident |
| Location: | North Atlantic Track E -
 Atlantic Ocean
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Passenger - Scheduled |
| Departure airport: | London-Heathrow Airport (LHR/EGLL) |
| Ottawa-Macdonald Cartier International Airport, ON (YOW/CYOW) | |
| Investigating agency: | AAIB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
A Canada 3000 Airbus A330-200, C-GGWD, and a THY Airbus A340, TC-JDN, were involved in an airprox incident over the North Atlantic.
The A340 was en-route from Istanbul to New York and the A330 was en-route from London to Ottawa.
Both aircraft were assigned to North Atlantic (NAT) Track E with an entry point into Oceanic Airspace of 58°North 10°West and a next reporting point of 59°N 20°W. Both aircraft were cleared by the Scottish Oceanic Area Control Centre to cruise at Mach 0.82 with the A340 at Flight Level (FL) 360 and the A330 1,000 feet above at FL 370. The vertical separation distance of 1000 feet was in accordance with RVSM (Reduced Vertical Separation Minima) used by approved aircraft within NAT MNPS (Minimum Navigation Performance Specification) Airspace. The objective of RVSM is to reduce the vertical separation of aircraft flying between FL 290 and FL 410, inclusive, from the previous 2,000 feet to 1,000 feet, in order to improve fuel efficiency and increase traffic capacity. At the time of the incident each aircraft was using SELCAL (Selective Calling) but on different HF radio frequencies. They were beyond radar coverage but both crews were monitoring the common VHF radio frequency used for air to air messages. Both aircraft had a limiting speed at their respective flight levels of 0.86 Mach.
The incident began when both aircraft deviated from their assigned flight levels whilst the lateral separation between them was less than nautical two miles triggering TCAS RA warnings in both aircraft. Initially the risk was minimal because when TCAS RAs were issued, the aircraft were about 800 feet vertically separated with transient variations in vertical speed due to the turbulence; at that stage the A340 had not begun its ‘zoom climb’. The incident became serious about 10 seconds later when the A340’s flight control system captured alpha prot and commenced a vigorous climb which resulted in the A340 climbing through the A330’s assigned flight level whilst both aircraft were laterally separated by a few hundred feet.
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5422eca8ed915d137100010d/Airbus_A330__C-GCWD_Airbus_A340__TC-JDN_06-2001.pdf
https://www.jetphotos.com/photo/7080 (Photo)
History of this aircraft
Other occurrences involving this aircraft
| 15 June 2010 | EI-DIP | Alitalia | 0 | Boston-Logan International Airport, MA (BOS/KBOS) |  |
non |
| 16 August 2012 | EI-DIP | Alitalia | 0 | Boston-Logan International Airport, MA (BOS/KBOS) | |
min |
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 26-Mar-2025 09:01 | Justanormalperson | Added |
| 26-Mar-2025 09:04 | ASN | Updated [Narrative, Accident report, ] |
Corrections or additions? ... Edit this accident description
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