In an extremely close call at the Mumbai Airport on Saturday, the lives of hundreds of passengers was saved in a matter of few moments, when an IndiGo aircarft touched down and an Air India aircraft took off on the same runway.
Although the disaster was averted, the aviation regular Directorate of Civil Aviation, taking a swift action, launched a probe in the matter.
The video of the incident also surfaced on the social media where both the aircrafts can be seen landing and taking off on the same runway. The IndiGo plane is seen landing, as the Air India jet takes off just a few moments away.
"DGCA has also derostered t the Air Traffic Control (ATC) staff that was involved in the incident at Mumbai Airport where an inbound IndiGo flight landing on Runway 27 while an Air India flight was still in the process of taking off," DGCA said.
'We Were Following ATC's Instructions': IndiGo, Air India
Following the incident, IndiGo issued a statement in which it said that the pilot of the Indore-Mumbai flight 6E 6053 was following the instructions given by the ATC.
"On Jun 8, 2024 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 stated, as per NDTV's report.
According to the report, Air India, too, stated that the ATC had cleared its plane for take-off.
"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," Air India said in a statement.