ATC records contradict IAF chief on near-miss

Mumbai: Monday's near-miss at Mumbai airport has triggered a confrontation between civil aviation authorities and the Indian Air Force. On
Wednesday, reacting to TOI's exclusive report that the IAF pilots of President Pratibha Patil's VVIP squadron did not check with Mumbai tower control before landing, Air Chief Marshal Fali Major insisted that the three IAF helicopters "were on approach frequency" and were never told to switch to tower control frequency.
However, transcripts of the conversation between an IAF pilot and the approach controller tell a different story. According to the transcripts, a copy of which is with TOI, at 09:18:52 IST, Pratap I told the approach controller on approach frequency (127.9 MHz), "Over to Tower. Jai Hind, Sir." At 09:19:01, speaking on tower frequency (118.1 MHz), he said, "Tower, Pratap I is finals."
Shorn of the jargon, the chopper pilot initially confirmed to the approach controller that he was moving on to the tower controller's frequency as instructed. After moving to tower control frequency nine seconds later, the pilot reported that he was on finals, that is overhead on runway 27. The Mumbai Air Traffic Control has this, on record, in its transcripts.
By that time, one IAF chopper had already landed on runway 27. The full drama of flight number IAC 866 being cleared to take off, then suddenly being told to stop, and the pilot aborting take-off with scant seconds to go took place between 09:17:02 and 09:17:56.
The ATC transcripts clearly reveal that the pilot of the chopper which landed at 09:17am on runway 27 did not take landing clearance from either the tower or approach controller. It also reveals that the pilot of Pratap I, the chopper which was in touch -- first with approach control and then with tower control -- did not inform either controller about the IAF chopper which landed at 09:17. In fact, Pratap I had confirmed a landing time of 09.20am and a door opening time of 09.25am.
The question that needs to be answered is: So which unit gave clearance to the IAF chopper that landed at 09:17, forcing the Air India aircraft to abort take-off?
According to Major, the IAF pilots were given landing clearance by approach control. But the ATC transcripts have no records of any such clearance being given. The transcripts reveal that approach control had only cleared the Pratap formation to come from INS Kunjali to Mumbai.
12/02/09 Manju V/Times of India

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Categories: Airports Feb 2009, NACIL Feb 2009, Safety Feb 2009