ATC alacrity averts possible air incident at IGI airport

New Delhi, April 7 (IANS) The civil aviation regulator on Friday said a major air incident was averted at the IGI airport here by the air traffic controllers' alacrity and their following standard operating procedures.

The quick-thinking by the ATC staff averted a possible collision as the flight path of two aircraft converged at the merging point between runway 28 and 29 -- two of three runways at Delhi's IGI airport.

At around 11.00 a.m., an Air India (AI) aircraft AI-156 to Goa was about to take-off from runway 28, when an IndiGo flight 6E-398 from Ranchi was to land on runway 27. The two runways converge at the merging point.

The ATC directed the IndiGo flight to abort landing and initiate a go-around procedure, while the AI aircraft which was rolling-out at a high speed was told to reject its take-off. The AI aircraft later took-off at 12.50 p.m.

According to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA): "Indigo aircraft was landing on R/W 27 and did go around. Air India aircraft which was taking off from R/W (runway) 28 was asked to reject take off as per normal protocol.

"No safety issue, no collision issue and no infringement. Therefore, nowhere safety was compromised. Reasons will be known after DFDR (digital flight data recorder) data analysis."

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