Near collision at IGI: Ms Karat praises AI crew for remaining calm

New Delhi: Passengers on an Air India domestic flight from Chennai to New Delhi had a narrow escape on Sunday (October 7) night when their pilot managed to avoid a collision with a Jet Airways aircraft.
Air India Flight IC 802 from Chennai, which was about to land at Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi on Sunday at 10.30 pm, had to abruptly make a steep ascent when its pilot realised that a Jet Airways flight was on the same runway trying to take off.
CPI(M) politburo member Brinda Karat, who was on the Air India flight, said, "This sort of thing is just waiting to happen, what with the huge traffic at airports. Luckily for us the pilot was very experienced and he handled the situation very well."
Passengers on the Air India aircraft said Captain N.V.S. Chandok, who was flying the A-320, had already announced the landing and the landing gear was lowered when he made a sharp ascent.
It has been learnt that Capt. Chandok has written a letter about the incident to the directorate-general of civil aviation in which he explained that the Jet Airways aircraft on the runway was backtracking without obtaining permission from air traffic control (ATC) to backtrack though it was cleared for takeoff.
Sources revealed that the plane in question was Jet Airways Flight 9W2306 and the pilot flying the aircraft was Capt. Stephen Colley.
Both the DGCA and the Airports Authority of India (AAI), under whom air traffic control functions, were not available for comment on the issue despite repeated efforts.
Jet Airways, after several attempts, did call back but only to say that it could comment on the matter only on Thursday after checking the details.
Ms Karat praised the crew of the Air India plane for remaining calm during the emergency, as a result of which there was no panic among the passengers.
Meanwhile, the Air Traffic Control has denied all reports of a near mid air collision at the Indira Gandhi International airport on October 7.
11/10/07 Times Now.tv

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Categories: Air India Domestic Oct 2007, Airports Oct 2007, Indian Oct 2007, Jet Airways Oct 2007, NACL Oct 2007, Safety Oct 2007