A mid-air mishap was averted in the Dhaka airspace after a warning was generated that alerted the pilots of IndiGo and Air Deccan planes, which came dangerously close to each other, allegedly breaching the mandatory separation limit, as per reports.
The incident, which took place on May 2 in the Bangladesh airspace, happened when IndiGo’s Agartala-bound flight 6E892 from Kolkata and Air Deccan’s flight DN 602, which was on its way to Kolkata from Agartala, they said.
The incident has been treated as “serious” as IndiGo Airbus A320 plane and Air Deccan’s Beechcraft 1900D were just about 700 metres away from each other and is being probed by the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB), they added.
“The Air Deccan flight DN 602 was on the descend to Agartala from 9,000 feet flight level, while the IndiGo flight 6E 892 was on the climb after taking off from Kolkata for Agartala. It was, however, told to maintain 8,300 feet flight level, which triggered TCAS and forced the two pilots to steer their planes to a safer distance,” the sources said.
Officials said the flights were barely 15-35 seconds away from each other, which triggered a resolution advisory (an in-built feature in the TCAS). The minimum vertical distance between two flights operating in Indian airspace is 1,000 feet. The two flights had come within 700 feet of each other.
IndiGo aircraft was at the prescribed air level, a statement said, adding the IndiGo pilot followed the standard operating procedures (SOPs) and reported the matter to Agartala ATC and the company.
The matter has also been reported to the regulator and is being investigated, the IndiGo statement said.
Airprox is an unplanned event in which two aircraft come close to each other breaching the standard separation distance.