A major disaster was avoided on Wednesday when two planes were set to take off from the same runway, resulting in a collision.
The planes involved, a Vistara UK926 flight and another Vistara UK726 aircraft together were carrying 322 passengers on board.
The UK926 flight was touching down from Ahmedabad on runway 29L, while another Vistara UK726 aircraft was readying to take off from the same runway.
Failure by ATC
However, a critical error occurred when an air traffic controller gave the takeoff clearance to the departing UK726 flight from the same runway.
45-year-old Captain Sonu Gill on the Ahmedabad-Delhi flight which was landing was directed by the air traffic control (ATC) to taxi to Terminal 3 by crossing the parallel runway 29R after landing.
Hero saves the day
However, instead of moving ahead with the clearance, Gill promptly reacted by stopping the aircraft at the holding point of runway 29R and alerting the ATC about the wrongful clearances.
The situation could have been severely dire since the two aircraft were less than 2-kilometer apart.
The ATC then immediately instructed the pilots of the departing flight to halt the takeoff, resulting in relief for all involved.
What happened after
Following this, the Delhi-Bagdogra flight immediately pulled back from the active runway and returned to its parking bay.
The plane was refueled to ensure sufficient power for the second take-off attempt and to return to Delhi in case of bad weather conditions.
It also underwent maintenance checks after braking at high speed.
Pilot profile
Gill is regarded as a very senior captain with Vistara.
Fellow colleagues said that she was brushing aside congratulatory comments, saying she was just doing her job.
“She maintains a very low profile and does not have any digit presence”, said fellow Airbus A320 pilots.
Probe launched
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said an ‘alert pilot in the aircraft crossing the runway (VTI926) alerted ATC and the aircraft on its take-off run (VTI725) was ordered to abort take-off’.
The DGCA has opened an investigation and has derostered the ATC official responsible from duty.
“Momentarily, the tower controller forgot this crossing and issued the takeoff clearance to another Vistara flight… On realization of this error based on input from [the first] flight, [the] tower controller instructed [the second] flight to cancel takeoff”, said a senior DGCA official.
The incident has brought to light the issue of handling operation of parallel runways, especially in busy airports.
Issue of operating runways during busy traffic
The matter gets complicated due to increasing air traffic and complexities, calling for enhanced protocols and minimizing the chances of human errors remains crucial.
IGIA, India’s busiest airport which has four airstrips, is currently warming up to use its newest runway and dual parallel runways.
The latest incident emphasizes the need for precision and to follow safety standards to avoid mishaps and ensure smooth operations.
Captain Amit Singh, a senior pilot and the founder of the Safety Matters Foundation, told PTI flight ops ‘from closely spaced runways require enhanced monitoring and stricter compliance with SOPs to avoid a potential traffic collision’.
