Iberia A319 at Madrid on Sep 22nd 2013, cleared to land and landed with runway occupied

An Iberia Airbus A319-100, registration EC-JEI performing flight IB-3471 from Zurich (Switzerland) to Madrid,SP (Spain) with 98 passengers and 5 crew, was on approach to Madrid's runway 18L and received landing clearance. The aircraft overflew an airport vehicle on the runway near the threshold and landed safely on runway 18L.

Spain's CIAIAC reported on Aug 21st 2014 that the vehicle had been cleared to perform a runway inspection due to the presence of birds. The tower controller attempted to raise the driver several times on radio to instruct the vehicle to leave the runway, but repeated contact attempts failed. Tower had cleared the aircraft to land anticipating the vehicle would have vacated the runway at touch down. The investigation is continuing focussing on aspects of radio coverage at the aerodrome and questions why the vehicle driver could not be contacted. (Editorial note: The CIAIAC statement does not contain indication that the investigation is trying to clarify why the landing clearance was issued and why no go-around instruction was issued).