Italian investigators are to probe a serious occurrence in which an Air Arabia Airbus A320 descended towards the sea shortly after departing Catania in Sicily.
The aircraft – registered to the Air Arabia Maroc operation – had been bound for Amman on 20 September.
Italian safety investigation authority ANSV states that the aircraft’s crew received a ‘pull up’ alert from the ground-proximity warning system “shortly after take-off”.
“This occurred as the aircraft approached the sea surface,” it adds, indicating that the aircraft’s height closed to a “short distance” from the water.
The detailed geometry of the event and the reasons behind it have yet to be determined.
No passengers were on board the jet – a CFM International CFM56-powered airframe, registered CN-NML.
It was transporting four cabin crew members as well as the two pilots when the incident took place, in darkness, at about 23:57 local time.
Meteorological data for Catania airport at the time indicates good visibility and benign weather conditions.
ANSV indicates that the aircraft recovered and the flight continued without further incident. It has reviewed the event, classifying it as serious, and opened a safety investigation.
