Near miss incident: 'IAF chopper may not have contacted ATC'

New Delhi: The IAF helicopter in the Presidential entourage, which had a narrow-miss with an Air India aircraft at Mumbai airport last month, was under visual flight rules (VFR) instead of being instrument-guided and probably had no contact with the control tower at the airport, informed sources have indicated.
As the inquiry into the February 9 incident by a joint committee of civil and military aviation officials progressed, there were indications that the helicopter in the Presidential entourage, which was on VFR, had not established contact with the air traffic control (ATC) tower at the airport, which it was supposed to do in order to make a landing, the sources said.
They, however, said only completion of the inquiry would establish the exact reasons and circumstances and make important recommendations including enhancing the levels of coordination between civil and military aviation agencies, especially during VIP travel. Busy airports like Mumbai have controlled airspace around them and most of the air traffic is guided by instrument flight rules (IFR).
22/03/09 Noor Khan/SamyLive

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