DGCA probes near-miss incident at Delhi airport

New Delhi: Aviation regulator DGCA is studying air traffic control (ATC) tapes as part of its probe into a “near miss” incident at Delhi airport between a GoAir aircraft and an Indian Air Force plane, sources said today. “We are probing the incident. Until we thoroughly go through the ATC tapes and all related records, we can’t take any action,” said a senior DGCA official when asked whether any action was being taken against anyone for the said lapse.[caption id=“attachment_1150965” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Near-miss at Delhi airport. Reuters[/caption] The incident happened at around 2pm on Wednesday when a GoAir Airbus A-320, on its way to Mumbai with over 100 people on board, had to abort take-off moments after its pilots saw an IAF plane crossing the runway to go towards the technical area of the airport. The GoAir flight had got the go-ahead from the air traffic controller and was preparing to take off when the pilots spotted the IAF plane on the same runway. Sources said it was being investigated whether the urgent message from the air traffic controller to the IAF pilots to not cross the runway got masked by another transmission and was not heard by them. After the GoAir flight aborted take-off, it returned to the bay and finally took off after over 30 minutes, they said. The incident took place soon after President Pranab Mukherjee’s flight took off for Europe. The closure of airspace due to the VIP movement had resulted in severe congestion and several aircraft were in queue for take-off. PTI