DGCA says ATC acted quickly to alert aircraft

Mumbai: The Directorate-General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said in a statement, after a near-miss incident on Monday between an IAF helicopter that was part of President Pratibha Patil’s convoy and an Air India flight at the airport here, that “the ATC (Air Traffic Control) was aware of the Presidential visit and were watching the approach movement of the Presidential convoy of helicopters. At that time an aircraft of Air India was on the active runway-27.
The ATC, noticing movement of the aircraft on the runway, asked the aircraft to immediately apply brakes and exit through the taxiway. The aircraft exited immediately and the helicopters landed safely.”
Pilot S.S. Kohli and his crew “deserved full compliments” for bringing the aircraft to a halt in time, Air India executive director for corporate communications Jitendra Bhargava said.
10/02/09 Ananth Krishnan/The Hindu

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Categories: Air India Domestic Feb 2009, Airports Feb 2009, NACIL Feb 2009, Safety Feb 2009