2 min readNew DelhiFeb 25, 2014 12:27 AM IST
First published on: Feb 25, 2014 at 12:27 AM IST
A mid-air collision scare was sounded last week when an Air Force fighter jet allegedly entered the flight path of an international flight over Amritsar, prompting an investigation by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).
However, the Air Force said that it was tracking an unidentified flying object near the border that turned out to be a stray weather balloon and that it had not received any complaint on the matter.
Conflicting versions of the event have come to light with a source in the Airports Authority of India (AAI) saying that on February 20, an SU-30MKI aircraft entered the flight path of two international airliners near the border, and the matter was reported to Delhi ATC.
The Air Force version of events, however, is that it had scrambled the fighters to track an unidentified contact on the radar that was approaching the Indian side from Pakistan and that it informed the ATC to keep the air space free.
AAI officials said there is thin air space left for civil aircraft in the Northern part of the country, as a large part of the airspace is used by the fighter jets from various airbases. While IAF pilots are aware of the civilian aircraft flight path, the civilian ATC is not informed about the path and sorties of the fighter jets.
However, officials in the Defence Ministry have said that the ATC was informed about this particular mission and that the Air Force till now has not received any complaint. “A few days ago, an unidentified flying object was detected heading towards towards the international border from the West. After our radar spotted it, we communicated with the Delhi ATC which said it had no information on the flying object,” a ministry official said.
“As per procedure, we scrambled SU-30MKI fighters and asked the ATC to keep the air space of 25,000-35,000 feet clear of any civilian traffic. Once our fighter reached the spot, it visually identified the object as a stray weather balloon. It was tracked and found not to be a threat.”
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