Accident averted at Delhi airport, ATC staff derostered

Two Vistara aircraft at Delhi Airport were on a collision course when one jet was about to cross a runway from which the other was about to take off. The pilot of the arriving flight alerted air traffic control, resulting in the departing flight aborting take-off. The incident is being investigated by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation.

Two Vistara aircraft were briefly on a collision course at the Delhi Airport on Wednesday, when one of the jets that had just landed was about to cross a runaway from which the other was about to take off.

The aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) will be investigating the incident after which appropriate action will be taken, a civil aviation ministry official said. (Vipin Kumar/HT Photo)

The pilot of the arriving flight --- on the Ahmedabad-Delhi service --- spotted the other plane, departing for Bagdogra, and alerted the Air Traffic Control (ATC). The ATC then asked the departing flight to abort take-off.

“The aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) will be investigating the incident after which appropriate action will be taken,” a ministry official said, asking not to be named.

The ATC officer involved was taken off duty, the person said.

“The Ahmedabad- Delhi flight landed at the left runway and the other flight was to take off from the right when the pilot of the [first] flight, during crossing, noticed that the departure flight was about to take off. She informed the ATC after which the officer immediately ordered the departing cockpit crew to abort take off,” said a Delhi airport official, asking not to be named.

A senior Airports Authority of India (AAI) said: “Aborting take offs are not unusual incidents however in this case a major mishap was averted which will be investigated.”

The Delhi-Bagdogra flight returned to the parking bay from the active runway immediately after take-off was aborted.

Officials said it was refuelled to ensure that the plane had enough fuel to return to Delhi if the pilot encountered bad weather conditions at Bagdogra. The braking system was also checked, they said.

Senior pilot and founder of Safety Matters Foundation, Capt Amit Singh, told news agency ANI that flight operations “from closely spaced runways require enhanced monitoring and stricter compliance with SOPs to avoid a potential traffic collision due to the proximity of the flight path”.

“Normally a take-off clearance is not issued to an aircraft on one runway unless the aircraft on the second runway has landed,” he said.

“However, due to a lapse if the aircraft is permitted to take off from one runway and the aircraft approaching on the second runway decides to abort the landing and carry out a go-around to climb ahead, the flight path of the two aircraft in the air may come in conflict since the runway they were aligned to were closely spaced,” he added, the news agency reported.