The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) of India has confirmed that on June 8, Mumbai airport had an incident in which an Air India aircraft took off mere minutes ahead of an IndiGo plane, which landed on the same runway.
The Indian Regulator DGCA, in a statement, said that the Air Traffic Control (ATC) staff involved has been derostered. It confirmed that an inbound IndiGo flight landed on Runway 27 while an Air India flight was still in the process of taking off.
A video of the aircraft close proximity incident has been making the rounds on social media.
The incident took place on Saturday on runway 27 at Mumbai Airport when IndiGo flight 6E 5053 landed on the runway while Air India flight AI657 was still in the process of taking off.
Early on June 8 (Saturday), IndiGo flight 6053, arriving from Indore's Devi Ahilyabai Holkar Airport (IDR), landed on runway 27, while Air India flight 657 was still in the process of taking off for Thiruvananthapuram International Airport (TRV), The close timing of the landing and takeoff created a “potentially dangerous situation”.
As the Air India flight was accelerating down the runway as the IndiGo flight descended towards the ground. However, as the A320neo got closer, the Air India flight managed to get airborne, likely unaware of the other aircraft approaching from behind. It was able to take off without incident.
Not a first time incident, Aviation industry has been witnessing such mear-miss incidents as air travel demand is back in the sky in a post Pandemic world.
In May 2022, two Volaris aircraft came in close proximity in Mexico City International Airport (MEX) Runway 05L on 7th May ( Around 01.56AM UTC ), while one of them was on approach and another one was on the Runway for takeoff.
Another recent accident earlier this year at Japan reminds us, what could have gone wroung here and the severity of such near-miss incidents !
A development from a similar close proximity scenarion took place after the misinterpretation of a phrase while communicating with ATC, leading to a deadly collision between a Japan Airlines Airbus A350-900 plane (JA13XJ) and a Japan Coast Guard DHC-8 aircraft (JA722A) at Japan-Haneda Airport's Runway 34R on January 2nd.
On this incident, leading Indian carrier IndiGo, in a statement after the incident, said,
“On June 8, 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.”
Tata Group backed Air India, in its statement, said,
“AI657 from Mumbai to Trivandrum was on take-off roll on June 8. The Air India aircraft was cleared by Air Traffic Control to enter the runway and subsequently cleared for take-off. The Air India aircraft continued with the take-off roll in accordance with laid down procedures. An investigation has been initiated by the authorities to find out more about the clearance given to the airlines.”
An investigation by the DGCA has been launched to understand what led to the protocol breach and to implement measures to prevent similar occurrences in the future.
Alok Yadav, General Secretary of the ATC Guild India, told news agency ANI that,
“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.”
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