Mid-air collision between two IndiGo aircraft averted
Representative Image
Nearly 330 passengers on board two Indigo aircrafts had a narrow escape when a mid-air collision between them was averted over the Bengaluru airspace on Tuesday. This prompted the authorities to launch a probe into the incident, PTI quoted industry sources as saying.
The aircrafts involved in the incident were operating on Coimbatore-Hyderabad and Bengaluru-Cochin routes respectively. While there were 162 passengers on Hyderabad-bound plane, the other aircraft was carrying 166 passengers.
An automatically generated warning alerted the pilots of the two planes. The Traffic Collision Avoidance System (TCAS) monitors the airspace around a plane for other aircraft and gives pilots warning of possible collision risks.
The advance system also instructs pilots about resolution advisory to maintain desired separation between two aircrafts while being in air.
News agency PTI quoted unnamed sources as saying that the vertical separation between the two aircraft was only about 200 feet and a mid-air collision was averted after the TCAS alarms went off.
They also told the agency that the Aircraft Accident Investigation Board (AAIB) has started an investigation into the incident.
“The TCAS-Resolution Advisory system was triggered on two of our aircraft operating Coimbatore-Hyderabad and Bangalore-Cochin routes respectively on July 10. Following normal procedure this has been reported to the regulator,” the airlines said in a statement.
By EP Web Desk
