Pilots' Timely Action Averts Air India-Nepal Airlines Flights Collision

The Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) said it suspended two of its employees from the air traffic control department after the incident.

A major incident was averted on Friday when an Air India aircraft came dangerously close to a Nepal Airlines over the Kathmandu airspace. The pilots' timely action helped avert what could have been a mid-air collision in Kathmandu, reported news agency PTI.

The warning systems on both planes alerted the pilots in both the aircraft. They managed to take evasive actions, which prevented a collision, as per authorities in Nepal. The Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) said it has suspended two of its employees from the air traffic control department after the incident.

CAAN spokesperson Jagannath Niroula described the incident as an act of “carelessness", reported PTI. "A Nepal Airlines plane coming to Kathmandu from Kula Lumpur, Malaysia, had almost collided with an Air India plane reaching Kathmandu from New Delhi," he said.

Niroula said the Air India aircraft was descending from 19,000 feet while the Nepal Airlines aircraft was flying at an altitude of 15,000 ft in the same location. The Nepal Airlines aircraft descended to 7,000 ft following a signal from radar about the proximity of two airlines.

The Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal has formed a three-member probe committee to look into the issue. Air India has not issued any comments on the matter so far.

In a separate incident on March 20, IndiGo Airlines said that a flight headed to Mumbai from Bangkok had to be diverted to Yangon, Myanmar, on Sunday due to a medical emergency onboard. However, upon arrival, the passenger was declared dead by the medical team present at the airport, reported news agency PTI.

The airline did not provide further details about the incident. The incident marked the second occurrence of an IndiGo passenger falling ill during a flight and passing away.

On March 17, a Ranchi-Pune IndiGo flight was diverted to Nagpur airport due to a passenger experiencing a medical emergency. The passenger was later declared dead upon arrival at the hospital.

Even on March 13, a similar incident forced a Doha-bound IndiGo flight to land in Pakistan's Karachi. IndiGo flight 6E-1736, flying from Delhi to Doha, was diverted to Karachi due to a medical emergency on board.

"Unfortunately, on arrival, the passenger was declared dead by the airport medical team," IndiGo said in a statement.

The deceased was identified as Abdullah, a Nigerian national who was around 60 years old. He was declared dead on arrival. The officials said that the aircraft A320-271N was parked at Karachi airport for nearly five hours. It returned to Delhi after the authorities in Karachi issued the death certificate of the passenger and all formalities were completed.

In the March 17 incident, a 73-year-old suffered cardiac arrest onboard a Ranchi-Pune Indigo flight, forcing the aircraft to make an emergency landing in Nagpur, Maharashtra. The passenger was later declared dead. The body was sent to the Indira Gandhi Medical College and Hospital.

Meanwhile, a British Airways flight to London Gatwick was forced to land in Rome, Italy, due to a minor technical problem on Monday afternoon.

According to The Times of Malta, the Airbus A320 took off from Luqa airport at around noon and safely landed in Rome around 1 pm. All the flyers were advised to take another flight scheduled to depart from Rome at 2 pm.