Another possible mid-air collision averted

New Delhi, Feb 10: When the memories of civilian plane narrowly missed a collision with President's helicopter in Mumbai is still haunting, another possible mid-air collision was averted on Tuesday, Feb 10 near Assam airspace.

An Air India Airbus with 43 passengers on board and an Indian Air Force (IAF) transport came dangerously close to each other over Assam airspace.

The Air India plane (IC-206) on a flight to Kolkata and an IAF"s 'Gajraj' flying from Jorhat to Dibrugarh were in the same vicinity over Jorhat airspace.

There was a situation of a breach of separation shortly after the civilian aircraft took off from Dibrugarh in Assam at 1155 PM, an Air India spokesman said on Tuesday, Feb 10.

Later Air India plane landed safely at Kolkata at 1.20 PM, according to the spokesman. The Airbus was given clearance to climb to 18,000 feet but its pilot after finding the IAF aircraft in the vicinity alerted Dibrugarh Air Traffic Control (ATC). He was asked to take evasive action to either go up to 19,000 feet or descend.

The pilot then descended his aircraft to a height of 16,000 feet, the spokesman said. “Like any responsible pilot, our pilot descended the Airbus to be on the safe side and landed safely at the NSC Bose International Airport," spokesman said.

When the IAF plane was descending to 17,000 feet and a scare arose when it was at an altitude of 17,300 feet where there was a 'breach of separation'. Aircraft should mandatorily have a vertical separation of 1,000 feet, spokesperson added.

OneIndia News (With inputs from agencies)