MUMBAI – Two international flights ventured hazardously close to each otherin the skies of greater Mumbai, India on Friday, according to the IndiaTimes.
Since the closure of Pakistan’s airspace on 27 February, many flights havehad to be re-rerouted through the Mumbai area, leading to a large increasein air traffic.
The incident happened at 1:40 PM local time, when an Air France Boeing 777,en route From Ho Chi Minh to Paris, had a near-miss with an Airbus A320on its way from Abu Dhabi to Kathmandu.
“At 1.40 pm, Mumbai air traffic control (ATC) asked the Etihad flightto climb to 33,000 feet. During climb, this aircraft came almostface-to-face with an AF 253 coming from the opposite direction. The twoaircraft were just three nautical miles away, and seconds apart, from eachother,” said sources, as quoted by the India Times.
This happened and the matter is under investigation. The air trafficcontroller has been off-rostered [taken off duty]. Traffic density was veryhigh (in the Mumbai flight information region) due to the closureof Pakistan’s airspace,” a senior ATC official said.
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According to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, an investigationinto the incident has been started.
Meanwhile, Pakistan announced last week that it could partially open itsairspace, but at the moment the only flights allowed are those offeringservice to Pakistani cities. – sputnik
