KLM Cityhopper flight involved in Basel airport near-miss

A KLM Cityhopper flight was very nearly in a collision with another aircraft while standing on the runway at Basel airport early this month, Noordhollands Dagblad reports. According to the newspaper, the French safety board BEA is investigating the incident, which happened on March 7th. The Dutch Safety Board was also called in. The Basel airport has a long runway for takeoffs and landings as well as a small lane. On the day of the incident a Sky Work Dornier 328 was given permission to takeoff via taxi lane G at 11:08 a.m. This was a scheduled flight to Bern in Switzerland. At the same time a KLM Cityhopper Embraer E190 was preparing to leave via Amsterdam via taxi lane D. According to the newspaper, the near miss was the result of a misunderstanding. The control tower gave the KLM polot permission to wait next to the runway. The pilot replied "line up and wait", which for him meant waiting on the runway for permission to leave. While the control tower thought the plane was waiting on the taxi lane. Luckily the Dornier is a rapid climber, which meant that it took off over the Cityhopper standing on the runway. But if another plane was involved, it could have been a disaster. Which is why the incident is under investigation.