Vistara Airlines: Two plane tango on the tarmac

Introduction:

India is a country where people have become heavily dependent on air carriers to reach their destinations. Statistics show that more than 270 million passengers have traversed through this form of transportation till August 2023. This in itself highlights the importance of maintaining safer airports and providing all amenities to the passengers. One such start airport of India is Indira Gandhi International Airport Terminal 3, or IGI T3. In 2022, this airport was awarded the award for being the

best airport in India and South Asia by the Skytrax World Airport Awards.

Such a prestigious airport like this would be almost accident-proof and would be strictly following safety norms and procedures put in place, right? However, the present blog deals with one such almost incident at the same airport, wherein two flights came extremely close to each other beyond the permissible limits.

The Incident:

A collision between two Vistara aircraft at Delhi airport was averted on the 23rd of August, 2023. This occurred due to the erroneous judgement of an air traffic controller, who allowed both flights to use the same runway simultaneously. The near-miss happened around 8 a.m. when Vistara’s flight UK725 from Ahmedabad landed at Delhi Airport on runway 29L and was permitted to cross runway 29R. But the alert pilot of the Ahmedabad flight noticed that another aircraft, Vistara’s UK 926, was preparing for take-off for Bagdogra from runway 29R and informed the ATC, after which the latter asked the pilot of the Bagdogra flight to abort take-off. The distance between the two planes was less than 2 km. The DGCA has assured that they would look into the matter and conduct necessary probes if required. They have de-rostered the air traffic controller, who was held liable for such mismanagement and erroneous judgment.

Captain Amit Singh, a senior pilot and the founder of Safety Matters Foundation, an NGO aimed at improving passenger safety, said, “From closely spaced runways require enhanced monitoring and stricter compliance with SOPs to avoid a potential traffic collision due to the proximity of the flight path". He also mentioned that while an aircraft has already landed on a runway, the take-off instructions for another flight are not usually issued.

Further, he added, “However, due to a lapse if the aircraft is permitted to take off from one runway and the aircraft approaching on the second runway decides to abort the landing and carry out a go-around to climb ahead, the flight path of the two aircraft in the air may come in conflict since the runway they were aligned to were closely spaced."

Air Traffic Control Guidelines:

The Director General of the Civil Aviation Authority lays down India's air traffic control guidelines. Air Traffic Control (hereinafter, ATC) is a body that is required to be present in every airport in India as per the Aircraft Act 1934 and the rules made thereunder. These guidelines help maintain safe and efficacious aviation operations and regulate the standard operating procedures for air traffic communication, navigation, surveillance, and control. Air traffic flow management is one of the cardinal procedures that are prescribed for every flight’s take-off and landing. An Air Traffic Controller is appointed to ensure the observance of this Standard Operating Procedure (SOP). This is done to reduce air congestion and to make use of the airspace capacity optimally. In addition to these guidelines, the DGCA also prescribes a safe distance to be kept between aircraft. Moreover, the Standard Operating Procedure prescribed does not allow other vehicular movements during a single landing or take-off. This was breached during the near collision situation that happened between these two aircraft.

The rules laid down by the DGCA prescribe avoiding any such instances, especially after the Chakri-Dadri mid-air collision took place, which is supposed to be one of the deadliest collisions in aviation history. Although the ATC was not held liable, stringent measures regarding proper communications were put in place to avoid such incidents in future. Therefore, recently, in January 2023, DGCA also came up with new timings for the Air Traffic Controllers so that they are not overburdened or do not slack in their duty because of fatigue. As per the new rules, the Controllers are supposed to work only for 48 hours in 7 days to get adequate rest.

The IGI T3 Ground staff, including the ATC, should be on the lookout to prevent such instances, especially when some reports called IGI T3 the third busiest airport in the world. The ATC has the onus of informing the pilots of the situations wherein they will land, and any lapse may lead to significant damage in terms of life and property. While the DGCA still continues its probe, it's extremely necessary that airport management stick to the rules prescribed by the DGCA to prevent any mishap in future.