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DGCA orders probe after mid-air collision between IndiGo flights over Bengaluru airport averted

Chief of Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) Arun Kumar said two IndiGo flights that took off from the Kempegowda International Airport in Bengaluru on January 7 had come close to colliding with each other mid-air while taking off.

DGCA orders probe after mid-air collision between IndiGo flights over Bengaluru airport averted-dnm
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Bengaluru, First Published Jan 19, 2022, 4:45 PM IST

Two IndiGo flights that took off from the Kempegowda International Airport in Bengaluru on January 7 averted mid-air collision as both planes had been cleared to take off concurrently in the identical route.

The incident of a serious safety breach was reported to India's aviation regulator DGCA and a team under DGCA Director General Arun Kumar was constituted for a thorough investigation.

Chief of Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) Arun Kumar said two IndiGo flights that took off from the Kempegowda International Airport in Bengaluru on January 7 had come close to colliding with each other mid-air while taking off.

Kumar said the flights involved in the incident were 6E 455 departing for Kolkata and 6E 246 for Bhubaneswar. Luckily, all the passengers and the crew were safe as the radar controller spotted the error and alerted the pilots in both the flight decks immediately.

The incident was not logged in any logbook and it was not reported by the Airports Authority of India (AAI) either, DGCA officials said.

Also read: DGCA extends suspension of scheduled international flights till February 28

“We are investigating and shall take the strictest action against those found delinquent,” Kumar told ANI. However, Indigo Airlines declined to comment on the incident.

“On Jan 7, 2022, two IndiGo flights 6E 455 (Bengaluru - Kolkata) and 6E 246 (Bengaluru - Bhubaneswar) were involved in breach of separation at Bangalore airport,” DGCA official told ANI.

“Both runways were in use, the official on shift decided for single Runway operations i.e. North Runway for arrival and departure, South Runway will be closed but it was not communicated to South tower controller. South tower controller gave departure to 6E 455 Kolkata bound aircraft and at the same time North tower controller gave departure to 6E 246 Bhubaneswar bound aircraft without coordination,” DGCA official further said.

He added, “Because of this, the two flights were given permission for take-off at the same time from the converging runways. This incident resulted in a situation where the aircraft moving in the same direction were about to collide with each other. A radar controller saw and alerted the aircraft immediately.

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