Workload and inaccurate airport ‘mental model’ led to A320 wrong-intersection take-off

Investigators have attributed an EasyJet Airbus A320’s wrong-intersection take-off at Toulouse to the crew’s limited attention capacity – a consequence of high workload – and confirmation bias. The aircraft (G-EJCI) had arrived 90min late into Toulouse on 30 July 2023, putting pressure on the crew during the return service to London Gatwick. Both pilots completed the performance calculations for a runway 32R take-off from intersection N2, which provided 2,300 distance. While they discussed the taxiing route, which was short and simple, they did not discuss the location of the intersection – which was not visible from their parking stand. As the aircraft taxied it was cleared to line up and depart from N2. When the first officer read back the clearance, the aircraft was approaching the N4 intersection. The crew had used an application known as ‘FlySmart+’ for the take-off preparations which showed the location of intersection N2. But it did not display intersection N4, because the data was drawn from EasyJet’s operation. EasyJet did not use N4 – from which a 32R take-off is prohibited for jets over 7t – and the application therefore made N4 unavailable to crews. “It is probable that the incomplete intersection information presented to the crew on the ‘FlySmart+’ app contributed to an inaccurate mental model of the runway layout,” says the UK Air Accidents Investigation Branch. The high workload conditions, it adds, resulted in attentional capacity limitations and “suboptimal” situational awareness.<br/>