Air India, Indigo have a narrow miss over Delhi

New Delhi: A major aviation disaster was averted when two aircraft came frighteningly close to each other while landing at the Indira Gandhi International Airport, New Delhi. The near collision, which could have been even more catastrophic than the 1996 crash over Charkhi Dadri village in Haryana, occurred over the thickly populated colony of Dwarka.
The two aircraft involved in the near miss were Air India’s 840 Shamshabad-Delhi and Indigo’s 192 Mumbai-Delhi. The incident occurred at 9:26 pm on March 2, when both flights were coming in to land at IGIA, putting about 400 lives of passengers at stake.
A senior Directorate General of Civil (DGCA) Aviation official involved in the probe said a major tragedy was averted. “Lateral separation between the two aircraft was about one kilometer and vertical separation was less than 200 feet,” he told DNA. Less than five kilometers of lateral separation and less than 1000 feet of vertical separation is considered alarming.
“When the inter-space arrival distance reduced to a dangerous level, the Air Traffic Controller (ATC) on duty directed Air India 840 to take a left turn. While taking left turn, it crossed approach path runway and came close to Indigo 192, which was given a go-ahead to land at runway 11,” a senior probe official told DNA.
The aircraft should have been directed to turn right.
An air traffic controller has been shunted out for the lapse. This is not the first time the ATC has committed an error. On an earlier occasion, the same officer was given a warning and de-rostered for negligence but escaped harsher punishment as she is an executive member of the Air Traffic Controllers’ Guild.
27/06/11 Pradip R Sagar/Daily News & Analysis

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Categories: Air India Mar 2011, Airports Mar 2011, Indigo Airlines Mar 2011, Safety Mar 2011