IndiGo, Air Deccan planes avert mid-air mishap, investigation underway

The incident occured on May 2 in the Bangladesh airspace, involving IndiGo’s Agartala-bound flight 6E892 from Kolkata and Air Deccan’s flight DN 602, which was on its way to Kolkata from Agartala. (Representational Photo)

A mid-air mishap was averted in the Dhaka airspace after an automatically generated warning alerted the pilots of IndiGo and Air Deccan planes that came dangerously close to each other, news agency PTI reported. The report said both the aircrafts were just about 700 meters away from each other. The incident occurred on May 2 in the Bangladesh airspace, involving IndiGo’s Agartala-bound flight 6E892 from Kolkata and Air Deccan’s flight DN 602, which was on its way to Kolkata from Agartala.

Sources told PTI that both the pilots had allegedly breached the mandatory separation limit. The sources added that the incident has been treated as ‘serious’ and is currently being investigated by the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB). The sources were quoted by PTI as saying: “The Air Deccan flight DN 602 was on the descend to Agartala from 9,000 feet flight level, while the IndiGo flight 6E 892 was on the climb after taking off from Kolkata for Agartala. It was, however, told to maintain 8,300 feet flight level, which triggered TCAS and forced the two pilots to steer their planes to a safer distance.”

TCAS is an onboard equipment which alerts the pilots about traffic in the proximity of the aircraft and also instructs them about the avoidance action (resolution advisory) to maintain the desired separation between two aircraft.

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An IndiGo spokesperson confirmed the incident and said that the matter is being probed by the regulator. “IndiGo flight 6E-892 (CCU-IXA) operated by VT-IDQ aircraft was involved in RA (resolution advisory) incident with a non-scheduled operator, on May 2, while descending for landing at Agartala,” an IndiGo spokesperson told PTI. He added that the IndiGo aircraft was at the prescribed air level and the onboard pilot maintained the standard operating procedures (SOPs), adding that the matter was reported to Agartala ATC and the company.

Commenting on the airprox, an unplanned event in which two aircraft come close to each other breaching the standard separation distance, a senior Air Deccan official said that the incident is under investigation.