Plane lands as another takes off from Mumbai runway, aviation safety regulator orders probe | Business News

Early on Saturday, an IndiGo A320neo aircraft from Indore touched down on Runway 27 of the Mumbai airport just as an Air India A320neo flight to Thiruvananthapuram was taking off from the other end.

A video of the incident, shared widely on social media, sparked fears of a major safety lapse.

However, the prescribed minimum distance between aircraft at high-intensity airports such as Mumbai can be low. An air traffic controller has some leeway on reducing it even further if certain conditions — particularly visibility and wind conditions — allow it.

Yesterday’s incident at #MumbaiAirport where an @IndiGo6E plane landed while an @airindia flight was taking off on the same runway is extremely concerning. The runway is already over-congested, handling over 1,000 flights daily, making it prone to risks.@MoCA_GoI & @DGCAIndia… pic.twitter.com/br7j3SyB9Z

— Milind Deora | मिलिंद देवरा ☮️ (@milinddeora) June 9, 2024

Therefore, said aviation experts, it would be premature to jump to any conclusion based on just the video. Air traffic controllers’ association ATC Guild, too, suggested that prima facie, there was no apparent breach of safety norms.

“The video makes the aircraft appear very close as the video is shot from an angle (probably near the hutments next to threshold of runway 27), however in reality the airplanes are well separated. This is HIRO (High Intensity Runway Ops). Followed in many countries including India when visibility is more than 3 kms and tailwind less than 5 kts,” aviation industry veteran Captain Shakti Lumba posted on social media platform X.

Mumbai airport has two cross-runways, which means that it can use only one runway at a time. The runway handles as many as 46 aircraft movements — take-offs and landings — in one hour. In its probe, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) is expected to ascertain if the air traffic controller and pilots acted within the norms.

The ATC Guild statement said that controllers are allowed to clear up to two arrivals and two departures within three minutes, subject to certain conditions. “Also, the separation minima between two aircraft can be reduced if the visibility is good. In this particular case that happened on Saturday at the Mumbai airport, the visibility was good and there was no airprox situation with respect to the landing IndiGo flight and the taking off Air India flight,” the statement said.

Airprox is a situation in which the distance between aircraft as well as their relative positions and speed have been such that the safety of the aircraft involved may have been compromised.

“…The tower controller is allowed to reduce separation minima between two aircraft if reasonable assurance has been established by visualising both aircraft,” the statement added.

In their statements on the incident, both IndiGo and Air India said their pilots acted in accordance with instructions from the Mumbai ATC.

“AI657 from Mumbai to Trivandrum was on take-off roll on June 8. The Air India aircraft was cleared by Air Traffic Control to enter the runway and subsequently cleared for take-off. The Air India aircraft continued with the take-off movement in accordance with laid down procedures. An investigation has been initiated by the authorities to find out more on the clearance given to the airlines,” an Air India spokesperson said.

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