New Delhi: In perhaps the first incident of its kind, three wide-body aircraft came alarmingly close to each other within seconds. The first alert of an aircraft being too close to another while flying in Delhi’s flight information region (FIR) sent it into the path of a third. Avoiding this, ironically took it back into the path of the first plane.
Top aviation officials said the three aircraft involved in this rare triple trouble a few days ago were Dutch carrier KLM’s Boeing 777 flight 875 from Amsterdam to Bangkok; Taiwanese carrier EVA’s Boeing 777 from Bangkok to Vienna and an American charter company National’s Boeing 747 jumbo jet flight NCR 840 from Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan to Hong Kong.
Aviation authorities have categorised this as a serious incident and referred the probe to the Aircraft Accident Investigation Board (AAIB).
“In the first instance, there was a breach of separation between NCR 840 and EVA Air and the Traffic Collision Avoidance Systems (TCAS) alarm went off in the flights cockpits,” revealed a source. At this point, NCR 840 was at 31,000 feet, while EVA Air was at 32,000 feet. After the TCAS alarm, NCR 840 asked for higher flight level of 35,000 feet. The air traffic controller asked NCR 840 to ‘standby, expect 350’. This meant that the aircraft was not cleared to climb at that point as the ATC had asked the jumbo jet to standby at the same level.
The controller, however, observed that NCR 840 had started to climb without approval while there was traffic in both its direction (behind it) and in opposite direction. “KLM 875 was flying in the same direction (from Amsterdam-Bangkok) behind NCR 840 at 33,000 feet. During this unauthorised climb, NCR 840 had another TCAS, this time with the KLM flight,” said sources.
28/12/18 Saurabh Sinha/Times of India
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Top aviation officials said the three aircraft involved in this rare triple trouble a few days ago were Dutch carrier KLM’s Boeing 777 flight 875 from Amsterdam to Bangkok; Taiwanese carrier EVA’s Boeing 777 from Bangkok to Vienna and an American charter company National’s Boeing 747 jumbo jet flight NCR 840 from Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan to Hong Kong.
Aviation authorities have categorised this as a serious incident and referred the probe to the Aircraft Accident Investigation Board (AAIB).
“In the first instance, there was a breach of separation between NCR 840 and EVA Air and the Traffic Collision Avoidance Systems (TCAS) alarm went off in the flights cockpits,” revealed a source. At this point, NCR 840 was at 31,000 feet, while EVA Air was at 32,000 feet. After the TCAS alarm, NCR 840 asked for higher flight level of 35,000 feet. The air traffic controller asked NCR 840 to ‘standby, expect 350’. This meant that the aircraft was not cleared to climb at that point as the ATC had asked the jumbo jet to standby at the same level.
The controller, however, observed that NCR 840 had started to climb without approval while there was traffic in both its direction (behind it) and in opposite direction. “KLM 875 was flying in the same direction (from Amsterdam-Bangkok) behind NCR 840 at 33,000 feet. During this unauthorised climb, NCR 840 had another TCAS, this time with the KLM flight,” said sources.
28/12/18 Saurabh Sinha/Times of India
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