The DGCA will investigate the mid-air collision of Indigo flights over Bengaluru and would take strict measures if necessary
The aviation authority, the Director General of Civil Aviation, will look into the matter of Indigo’s two domestic aircraft narrowly avoiding a mid-air collision.
The DGCA, India’s aviation authority, was notified of the significant safety breach, and a team led by DGCA Director-General Arun Kumar was formed to conduct a thorough investigation.
“We’re looking into it and will take the harshest measures against anybody proven to be delinquent,” Kumar told ANI.
Indigo Airlines did not respond to a request for comment on the event.
Officials said the close call between two Indigo flights, one from Bangalore to Kolkata and the other from Bhubaneswar, demonstrates incompetence and miscommunications between radar operators and ATC officials because two planes can’t fly on the same air path.
Two IndiGo planes 6E 455 (Bengaluru – Kolkata) and 6E 246 (Bengaluru – Bhubaneswar) were involved in a breach of separation at Bangalore airport on January 7, 2022, according to a DGCA official.
“Both runways were in use, thus the official on duty opted to utilise only one runway for arrivals and departures, i.e. North Runway for arrivals and departures, and South Runway for departures, but this was not conveyed to the South tower controller. Without coordination, the South tower controller gave departure to 6E 455 Kolkata bound aircraft while the North tower controller provided departure to 6E 246 Bhubaneswar bound aircraft “The DGCA official went on to say further.
According to investigators, a preliminary report concluded that “the incident occurred owing to a lack of communication between radar controllers and ATC officers at the time of the incident.”
Hundreds of passengers boarded the Airbus Indigo planes.
According to the report, the two planes took out for their respective destinations and collided in mid-flight over Bengaluru at an altitude of over 3000 feet.
