Air incident in France
An Air Algeria driver is the wrong airport to landing
A Boeing 737 from Air Algeria almost landed in Toulouse-Francazal when he had to land in Blagnac. A rare incident with modern technologies.
While their Boeing 737 was only at an altitude of 750 meters and aligned on French runway 29 in Francazal, the drivers immediately handed the gases to land in Toulouse-Blagnac, the good airport (illustration image).
Getty Images
An unusual air incident occurred on Tuesday in Toulouse: the pilots of a Boeing 737 in Air Algeria almost landed at the wrong airport, confusing Toulouse-Francazal with their planned destination, Toulouse-Blagnac, according to “The dispatch “.
The aircraft, from Oran (Algeria), had taken off from Ahmed-Ben-Bella airport at 10:40 am. After about an hour of flight, while air traffic control had authorized the crew to land on Toulouse-Blagnac left track 32, the plane headed, for reasons still undetermined, to Toulouse-Francazal airport, located a dozen kilometers.
Air Algeria pilots put the gases
It was only at the last moment that the pilots made their error. While the aircraft was only 750 meters above sea level and aligned on French runway 29, they immediately put the gases by informing air traffic control. The plane rose to 1200 meters above sea level.
After having made a loop to reposition itself properly in the axis of the Toulouse-Blagnac left 32 left track, the device finally landed without an incident at 12:06 pm. This trajectory error only lengthened the flight of five minutes.
Air security in question
The South Civil Aviation Safety Department (DSAC/South) said it was in contact with Air Algeria to clarify the circumstances of this incident. Admittedly, the Boeing 737-800 could have technically landed safely on the Toulouse-Francazal track, which is 1800 meters long and 45 meters wide. However, this airport has not welcomed any regular commercial flight since June 2011.
According to the specialized media Planslegendaires.netthis type of error was more frequent until the 1970s, before the advent of electronics in cockpits. The fact that such an incident occurred in 2025, with modern technologies available, arouses questions about the procedures followed by the crew during this approach.
“Latest news”
Do you want to stay at the top of the info? “24 hours” offers you two meetings a day, not to miss anything of what is happening in your canton, in Switzerland or in the world.
Other newsletters
Did you find an error? Please report it to us.