IndiGo-Air India flights come dangerously close on runway at Mumbai airport | Shocking video
The close timing of the landing and takeoff of the aircrafts created a chaotic situation that could have led to major mishappening.
A major accident was narrowly averted at Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport after two flights came dangerously close on the runway. A viral video shows one flight landing on the same runway from which another flight was taking off.
The incident took place in the early hours of Saturday on runway 27 at Mumbai Airport when IndiGo flight 6E 5053, arriving from Indore's Devi Ahilyabai Holkar Airport, landed on the runway while Air India flight AI657 was still in the process of taking off for Thiruvananthapuram International Airport.
The close timing of the landing and takeoff of the aircrafts created a chaotic situation that could have led to major mishap.
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), however, took prompt action and de-rostered the Air Traffic Control (ATC) officer and staff for their negligence. It has also begun an investigation into the matter to understand the circumstances that led to the breach of safety protocols.
As per the video being widely shared on social media, both the planes are seen on the same runway. As the Air India aircraft takes off, the IndiGo plane is seen landing.
"Mumbai and Delhi airports are high-intensity airports, operating around 46 flights per hour. ATCOs are responsible for maintaining the safe and secure arrival and departure of planes and passengers. In the viral video, the visibility appears to be quite good. If there is reasonable assurance through visual observation, the traffic separation minima can be reduced. In this incident, it appeared that the departing aircraft had already reached B2 speed and was nose-up while the arriving aircraft was touching down on Runway 27. The matter is under investigation," news agency ANI quoted Alok Yadav, General Secretary of the ATC Guild India, as saying.
However, IndiGo has said in a statement that the pilot of the Indore-Mumbai flight followed the ATC's instructions. "On Jun 8, 2024 IndiGo flight 6E 6053 from Indore was given landing clearance by ATC at Mumbai Airport. The Pilot in Command continued the approach and landing and followed ATC instructions. At IndiGo, passenger safety is paramount to us, and we have reported the incident as per procedure," it said in a statement.
(With inputs from ANI)