A minute later and it could have been a disaster. An Alert Air Traffic (ATC) controller noticed a private aircraft entering the main runway just as a Jet Airways aircraft was given clearance for landing at the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport on Tuesday.According to sources, the VT-AEL—a Beechcraft-200 aircraft—owned by Indamar, an aircraft maintenance agency, had taxied onto the runway without clearance from the Air Traffic Control at 7.33 pm. At exactly the same time, a Jet Airways aircraft with 123 passengers on board was given clearance for landing. The ATC immediately asked the Beechcraft pilot Captain N.K. Srivastava to clear the runway.‘‘We had initially cancelled clearance for the approaching 9W-448 Jet Airways aircraft. But since we managed to get the private aircraft off the runway in time, we allowed the Jet aircraft to continue its approach to land,’’ said a source.When contacted, the director (Air Safety) P. Shaw said his office was verifying the details from the ATC. ‘‘We have asked for the tapes containing the conversation between the pilot and the ATC to find out what happened,’’ said Shaw.
