This year, on March 24, two Boeing 777 aircraft, one from El Al and the other from Qatar Airways, nearly collided at 35,000 feet over the Arabian Sea, in airspace overseen by Mumbai’s air traffic controller, Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau revealed in a recent report.
The two aircraft were on their designated flight route and were flying at the same level, at 35,000 feet. As per the report by the AAIB, no cockpit alerts were activated to warn the pilots of the two aircraft. Reportedly, at least two air traffic controllers who were on duty during the incident have been suspended and are undergoing corrective training.
The separation breach occurred at the waypoint ‘GOLEM,’ located over the Arabian Sea within the Mumbai flight information region.
A preliminary report suggests that the violation of standard separation between the two aircraft occurred on March 24 at 7:36 am. El Al flight ELY-81 was en route from Tel Aviv to Bangkok, while Qatar Airways flight QTR-8E was headed to Male from Doha. Aircraft on this route are required to maintain a minimum separation of at least 10 minutes.
Coming dangerously close, the minimum separation between the two came down to just 9.1 nautical miles, making them a minute apart from each other.
The report noted that no cockpit alerts were triggered by the Traffic Alert and Collision Avoidance System (TCAS) to warn the pilots of a potential collision, nor was there any alert from air traffic control (ATC). The investigation is still determining whether this was due to the two aircraft not being close enough to activate the TCAS alert or if there were other factors involved.
No damage was caused to the aircraft in the incident.
