Scots Easyjet flight with 157 passengers was 'seconds away' from crashing in the Alps

The incident happened on an easyJet flight from Edinburgh to Geneva (stock image)

An EasyJet flight from Scotland was “seconds away” from crashing into Lake Geneva in a terrifying close call.

The Airbus A320 Neo had taken off from Edinburgh Airport with 157 passengers on board and was due to land at Geneva Cointrin Airport on November 5, 2023.

The plane dropped to a dangerously low altitude and was just 30 seconds away from crashing into the water in the Alps before Swiss air traffic controllers alerted the pilots.

Instead of its reportedly usual around 700 metres from the surface, the flight was just 230 metres up.

As reported by the Mirror, the plane then did a go-around before landing properly at the second time of asking. It’s understood that, had they continued on their trajectory, they could have crashed into the water within 30 seconds.

The Swiss Safety Investigation Services (SESE) said: “During the approach to runway 22, the aircraft descended significantly below the glide slope and the flight crew initiated a go-around,”.

The SESE touched on the incident in a very brief interim report published last month as the full investigation is ongoing. It is understood that the pilots were stood down from duty for a short period, in line with standard working procedures, and have since begun flying once more.

A spokesperson for easyJet told the Mirror: “We are fully supporting the investigation in line with procedures. At no point was the safety of those onboard compromised. The safety and wellbeing of passengers and crew is always easyJet’s highest priority.”

Whilst it isn’t clear what happened, a pilot and former air traffic controller, interviewed by Le Parisien, alleged it could be an issue of human error.

Don’t miss the latest news from around Scotland and beyond – Sign up to our daily newsletter here.