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http://www.asianage.com/main.asp?layout=2&cat1=1&cat2=22&newsid=202687&RF=DefaultMain
Near-miss by Air Deccan jets
- By Shuchi Srivastava
Mumbai Jan. 12: A tragedy was averted during the morning rush hour at
Mumbai airport on Thursday when, but for an alert air traffic
controller, two Air Deccan aircraft � one coming in to land and the
other about to take off � could have collided on the tarmac.
A fatal collision of two Air Deccan flights could have occurred at
around 8 am if the controller on duty had not asked the flight
readying to take off to return. "All that we can safely say is that
our pilot of the Mumbai-Kolkata flight that was to take off at 8 in
the morning today was asked by ATC officials at Mumbai airport to
revert back. I am not in a position to comment on the reasons behind
this order and after we complied with these instructions, the aircraft
went back to the parking bay where due to regulations we conducted a
mandatory internal check which delayed the flight, which could then
take off only at 1 in the afternoon," said an Air Deccan spokesperson.
A senior source at the Mumbai ATC, commenting on what had actually
transpired, said: "At 8 in the morning today the control room detected
that an Air Deccan flight coming in from Goa was precariously close to
landing near to the other Air Deccan aircraft that was taking off for
Kolkata. It was then that the latter aircraft was asked to turn back
to avoid any untoward incident. This is almost a routine practice that
occurs when departures get delayed and the approaching aircraft
continues on track and thus ATC officials warn pilots and deny them
takeoff permission. The airline is not to blame here and there is no
question of any pilot error as of now."
The source also said: "Incidents like these are extremely common,
especially in airports like Mumbai, where on an average there are at
least 250 takeoffs and landings every day."
On the question of whether passengers of the Mumbai-Kolkata flight
were offered the option of being put on other flights, the Air Deccan
spokesperson said: "If the flight took off at 1 in the afternoon then
there was no need for such arrangements to be made." All the same,
they had to wait for five hours at Mumbai airport before their flight
finally departed.
--
Cheers,
Gabe Menezes.
London, England
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