A PACKED holiday jet narrowly avoided disaster when it flew towards a 16-storey Dublin hotel, after the pilot mistook its rooftop lights for a runway.

The twin-engined McDonnell Douglas MD-83 jet, on a flight from Lisbon to Dublin Airport, came within 500 metres of the building, understood to be Days Hotel in Santry Cross, according to an air-accident report.

Warning

The report noted that the hotel was equipped with proper aviation hazard lighting.

However, the AAIU recommended that the Irish Aviation Authority take account of the potential for confusion by pilots when deciding on the type and positioning of warning lights near airports.

The plane, with 112 passengers and six crew, started its approach to Dublin Airport at around 23.24hrs on August 16, 2007. Weather and visibility were good. Due to scheduled maintenance on the main runway (10 28), runway 34 was in use for landing. Air Traffic Control cleared the plane to carry out a "non-precision approach" to the runway. But, at around five miles from touchdown, the aircraft began to deviate left of the approach course.

The Aviatjet plane was just 200ft above the height of the hotel before the pilot took corrective action, less than 570 yards from the building. "The aircraft continued to descend below the minimum descent altitude, without proper visual identification of the runway in use, and continued to descend to an altitude of 580ft above mean sea level, before executing a go-around," the report said.

"At the point the go-around commenced, the aircraft was approximately 1,700ft from the building and 200ft above it.

"On the instructions of ATC, the aircraft turned right and climbed to a safe altitude."

It later landed without incident. There were no injuries.

Climb

Dramatic radio tapes from the ATC controller at Dublin instructed the crew: "You're... turn right now!... turn right!... you have the...

"You're not landing on the runway!"

The 42-year-old pilot, who had an Airline Transport pilot's Licence issued in Croatia, and had 5,077 flying hours experience, was then told to climb to 2,000ft.

The report said: "Final intervention" by ATC was the "primary factor" in averting tragedy in the serious incident.

mlavery@herald.ie

- Michael Lavery