Karachi ATC misguides AI pilots

 A wrong input by the Karachi Air Traffic Control (ATC) on Tuesday night almost put lives of fliers and crew on-board an Air India (AI) flight from London to Mumbai in danger.

Pilots of the AI plane sought radio frequency to get in touch with the Mumbai ATC, but the Karachi ATC gave them a wrong frequency. They could not reach the Mumbai ATC for a long time. Later, they got in touch with the Ahmedabad ATC, which helped them in establishing contact with Mumbai. Sources said the expected arrival time, provided by the Karachi ATC to its Mumbai counterpart, was also wrong.

The AI-130 flight from London’s Heathrow Airport averted an accident with Philippine's Cebu Airline flight from Dubai after the Karachi ATC gave the pilot a wrong frequency. It could have led to a change in the AI flight’s path, bringing it close to the Cebu aircraft. Airports Authority of India (AAI) chairman Alok Sinha called the incident “very serious”.

Sources said the AI pilots did not compromise on the safety parameter and landed the aircraft in an incident-free manner. Sources said authorities have to ascertain whether the Karachi ATC misguided the pilots or was it a genuine mistake. DH News Service