Investigators probing the Nov. 18 runway collision between a LATAM Airlines Peru Airbus A320neo and an aircraft rescue and firefighting (ARFF) truck during an emergency exercise at Peru Jorge Chavez International Airport (LIM) will focus on whether the rescue vehicle had permission to enter the runway that the departing aircraft was using.
The incursion, which killed two firefighters and seriously injured a third, came during a planned “response time” exercise that tests whether trucks can reach a designated point on the airfield within 3 min.—an internationally accepted best practice—airport operator Lima Airport Partners (LAP) said in a statement.
LAP and air traffic services provider CORPAC “coordinated” the exercise in the days leading up to the occurrence, including its scheduled time window of 3:00 p.m. and 4:00 p.m. local time Nov. 18, the airport operator said.
“The firefighting team made all the necessary arrangements to execute the maneuver” in the hours leading up to the drill, LAP said, adding that CORPAC controllers in the tower “confirmed the start time of 1510.”
Jorge Salinas, head of CORPAC’s board of directors, said the exercise was coordinated, but did not include using an active runway.
“We did know and the exercise is approved to be done outside the area used for air operations,” he said, during a Nov. 20 press briefing. “There is no authorization for the entry of any vehicle on the landing strip.”
The drill began as scheduled, with multiple ARFF vehicles moving toward Runway 16 at about 3:10. At the same time, LATAM flight 2213, en route to Juliaca, Peru with 102 passengers and six crew members onboard, began its takeoff roll down runway 16. The aircraft collided with one of the ARFF trucks, causing its right main landing gear to collapse and triggering a fire.
“LATAM Airlines Peru informs that flight LA 2213, covering the Lima-Juliaca route, collided with a fire engine that entered the runway during take-off at Lima’s Jorge Chávez International Airport,” the airline said in a statement shortly after the accident.
The aircraft involved, manufacturer serial no. 7864 carrying registration CC-BHB, was delivered in 2017 and leased from Avolon.
The accident led local authorities to halt operations at the airport for about 30 hr. LATAM Peru, a LATAM Airlines Group subsidiary based at the airport, canceled some 400 flights as a result.
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