An incident was narrowly avoided at the airport in the national capital on Wednesday morning. Two Vistara planes were involved as the air traffic controller mistakenly granted permission for both an aircraft to cross the runway and another to take off from the same runway simultaneously. The controller then cancelled the takeoff after realising the mistake, as reported by officials.
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), which oversees aviation regulations, will conduct an investigation into the incident. The air traffic controller responsible for the mishap has been temporarily taken off duty, according to one of the officials who spoke to PTI.
The incident involved a plane arriving from Ahmedabad that had just landed at the Delhi airport, and another plane that was scheduled to depart for Bagdogra. According to a senior DGCA official, the Vistara aircraft with the designation VT1926, which had arrived from Ahmedabad, entered the runway area when it landed on runway 29L. The air traffic controller instructed this aircraft to cross runway 29R.
Simultaneously, the controller also cleared another Vistara plane, VTI725, to take off from runway 29R. This plane was intended for a flight from Delhi to Bagdogra. However, there was a momentary lapse in the controller’s attention, and the takeoff clearance was mistakenly given while the first aircraft was still on the runway.
The official stated, “The tower controller momentarily forgot about the crossing and issued takeoff clearance to Vistara flight VTI725 (Delhi–Bagdogra) from runway 29R. Upon realising the error with input from VTI926 [the first flight], the tower controller instructed VTI725 to abort the takeoff.” Vistara declined to provide any comment on the incident.