Major accident averted at Mum airport as 2 aircraft come dangerously close on runway

Mumbai: A serious aviation disaster was averted at the Mumbai airport as an Air India plane took off while an IndiGo aircraft landed on the same runway within a minute.

The incident on Saturday morning is being investigated by aviation watchdog DGCA, as well as IndiGo and Air India.

The two A320 aircraft together had around 300 passengers on board, sources said.

At the airport, the IndiGo flight landed on the same runway 27 from which an Air India flight was taking off, almost simultaneously.

In their statements, IndiGo and Air India said they were cleared for landing and take-off, respectively, by the Air Traffic Control (ATC).

“On June 8, IndiGo flight 6E 6053 from Indore was given landing clearance by ATC at Mumbai Airport. The pilot in command continued the approach and landing and followed ATC instructions,” IndiGo said in a statement.

“At IndiGo, passenger safety is paramount to us, and we have reported the incident as per procedure,” it said.

Air India, said its aircraft was cleared by the ATC to enter the runway and subsequently cleared for take-off.

The watchdog has derostered the Air Traffic Controller (ATC) who was on duty at the time of the incident on Saturday, while IndiGo has initiated a probe into the matter, officials added.

A purported video of one plane landing and another taking off from the same runway has been shared on social media.

“We are conducting a probe and have already de-rostered the ATCO involved in the incident,” the DGCA official said.

Mumbai airport is a single-runway operation with two crossing runways’ 09/27 and 14/32 that handles over 850 flights per day.

On a single runway RW27 at the Mumbai airport, there are around 46 arrivals and departures per hour.

Air Traffic Controllers’ (ATC) Guild in a statement said there was “no air prox” situation in the incident.