IAF, GoAir plane avoid mid-air crash

In a scary scenario, an Air Force plane and GoAir aircraft came dangerously close triggering the possibility of a mid-air collision at the Delhi airport. Aviation regulator Directorate-General for Civil Aviation (DGCA) has initiated a probe into the incident.

The GoAir flight to Mumbai had to abort the take-off within seconds after the pilot saw the IAF plane crossing the same runway on Wednesday at around 2:30 pm, sources said.
The IAF plane, which landed from Chandigarh, was crossing the same runway to reach the technical area. A collision between the two aircraft was averted when the Air Traffic Control (ATC) asked the GoAir pilot to abort the take-off and reduce speed.

DGCA sources said it is not clear at this juncture whether the aircraft received proper instructions from the ATC or not. The experts at DGCA are studying ATC tapes as part of its probe.

Sources said it was being investigated whether the urgent message from the air traffic controller to the IAF pilot to not cross the runway got masked by another transmission and was not heard by them. The incident took place soon after President Pranab Mukherjee's flight took off for Europe. The closure of airspace due to the VIP movement had resulted in severe congestion and several aircraft were in queue for take-off.

Following a series of near miss incidents, the DGCA had said that there should be regular proficiency checks of ATC officers and pilots. ATC services were being modernised to include conflict warning in the system to assist ATC officers.
Airlines have also been directed to avoid use of similar or confusing call signs.