Air Traffic Controller Suspended Over Near Mid-Air Collision Of IndiGo Flights At Bengaluru Airport

IndiGo flights 6E 455 and 6E 246 had taken off at the same time from north and south runway and involved in a breach of separation at Bengaluru airport.

New Delhi: The Air Traffic Control officer (ATCO) involved in 'a breach of separation' incident at Bengaluru airport was suspended on Monday for three months. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) took the step after two IndiGo flights miraculously avoided a collision following clearance to take off simultaneously in the same direction on January 7, 2022, reported news agency ANI.

The DGCA had ordered an inquiry into the incident. The two IndiGo flights from Bengaluru to Kolkata (6E 455) and Bengaluru to Bhubaneswar (6E 246) had taken off at the same time from north and south Runway and were involved in a breach of separation at Bengaluru airport, according to a senior DGCA official.

“South tower controller gave departure to 6E 455 in coordination with Approach Radar controller and at the same time, North tower controller also allowed departure to 6E 246 without prior coordination with south tower controller and approach Radar controller. As both aircraft after departure were on converging heading i.e. moving towards each other,” noted the statement by DGCA.

The statement said the approach radar controller gave diverging heading to separate these aircraft. Looking at the closest point of conflict, the vertical and lateral separation between both aircraft was 100 feet (Standard 1000ft) and 0.9 NM (Standard 3NM).

The situation has been classified as a serious incident and is being investigated by Aircraft Accident Investigation Board (AAIB).

Based on the outcome of the regulatory assessment, enforcement actions have been taken by DGCA that included a warning letter to the tower supervisor for not monitoring the activities of ATC Tower and non-reporting of the incident. ATCO license of North tower controller who was also the WSO of the shift was suspended for a period of three months, read the statement.

ATCO didn’t comply with coordination procedures during the change of runway operations from segregated mode to a single mode of operations, violations of AIP India for aircraft operation, DGCA approval for Runway operations, procedures of MATS II for Runway operation and non-reporting of incident, the statement added.