Mumbai/ Nagpur: The Indigo aircraft from Hyderabad to Raipur and the Emirates aircraft going to Dubai from Singapore were allegedly said to be just 200 feet away from each other. Indigo Airbus A-320 and Emirates Boeing B-777 breached the minimum separation of 1,000 feet that has to be maintained between two planes. The incident occured on Jan 28 and the incident came to light after after officials confirmed that one of the controllers at the Nagpur ATC tower was grounded as a standard operating procedure . The conformation came during an inquiry initiated by the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) .
A somewhat similar incident had occurred less than a week after a mid-air collision was averted between two aircraft in Mumbai airspace by allegedly three seconds, investigation is underway.
In the Nagpur incident radar controller was probably not at his seat when the incident took place informed a senior officials privy to the investigation. An official said, “an unauthorised officer was asked to take charge until the time the senior radar controller in question returned to her seat and handled the channel.”
While Airports Authority of India (AAI) spokesperson said he could not comment on the matter as it was under investigation, a senior AAI official privy to the probe confirmed that one of the senior radar controllers was grounded as his role in the accident is being scrutinised.
The radar controller in question was will remain derostered until a preliminary report is released by the investigative agency, according to another AAI official.
