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The IndiGo flight (in blue circle) landed on the runway in Mumbai airport while the Air India flight (in red circle) was still taking off. (Image: @karanbhanushaliii/X)
Video of two planes on Mumbai airport’s single runway sparks probe. IndiGo and Air India flights involved. Safety norms under scrutiny
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has launched a probe after two airplanes came alarmingly close to each other on the runway at Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport on Saturday.
A video of one plane landing and another taking off from the same runway went viral on social media, with reports suggesting that the two planes were merely 500 meters apart. An IndiGo flight from Indore landed on the same runway just moments after an Air India jet took off for Thiruvananthapuram. “We are conducting a probe and have already de-rostered the ATCO involved in the incident,” the DGCA official said.
What happened at the Mumbai runway?
Agency reports said Mumbai Airport is a single-runway operation with two crossing runways’ 09/27 and 14/32 that handles over 850 flights per day. On a single runway RW27, there are around 46 arrivals and departures per hour. The Air India flight was cleared to depart Mumbai’s Runway 27 while at the same time, IndiGo flight 5053 was cleared to land, according to Flightradar24.
Both aircraft, at their closest point, were 1,671 feet apart, according to ADS-B data. IndiGo said its aircraft continued the approach and landing as per the ATC instructions. “On June 8, 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,” IndiGo said in a statement.
Airports Authority of India
“Air India flight 657 began its take off roll at 00:45:05 UTC when the IndiGo A320neo was approximately 5,700 feet away. At 00:45:27 IndiGo entered the runway area as Air India accelerated through 90 knots ground speed. We correlated ADS-B data with video of the incident above for touchdown and rotation points. The smallest recorded distance between the two aircraft was at 00:45:36 when they were laterally separated by 1,671 feet. Air India was still on the ground and this point, and IndiGo still airborne,” the flight tracker added.
According to an Airports Authority of India (AAI) source, as a rule, departing aircraft have to cross the end of the runway or take a turn, only after which the ATC can issue the landing clearance for arriving aircraft. “However, in this case, this was allegedly not followed,” the source said. Air Traffic Controllers’ (ATC) Guild in a statement said there was “no air prox” situation in the incident.
Yesterday in Mumbai, an Air India and IndiGo flight experienced a loss of separation when the Air India flight was cleared to depart and the IndiGo flight cleared to land. Here’s what the ADS-B data tells us about the proximity of the aircraft. https://t.co/ynhwr1pCLw pic.twitter.com/O1ccRpJn39— Flightradar24 (@flightradar24) June 9, 2024
‘Significant pressure’
Several reports alleged that the ATCs are under “significant pressure” when there is high density traffic at the airport. The Adani Group-AAI promoted Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport had earlier this year announced it will handle 8 percent more air traffic movement at 6,657 ATMs per week (951 per day) during the summer schedule, which started from March 29, against the year-ago period.
“In this particular case… the visibility was good and there was no air prox situation with respect to the landing IndiGo flight and the taking off Air India flight,” the Guild stated. “The tower controller is allowed to reduce separation minima between two aircraft if reasonable assurance has been established by visualising both aircraft,” as per ATC Guild. According to the Guild, Mumbai airport is one of the high-density airports, which means that the number of flight movements is high.
“On a single runway RW27 at the airport, there are around 46 arrivals and departures per hour,” it said. Had there been a safety risk, the pilot himself would have initiated a go around, the ATC Guild said. ATCs are allowed to clear up to two arrivals and two departures within three minutes as per standard operating procedures, subject to certain conditions. The separation minima between two aircraft can be reduced if the visibility is good, it said.
“ATCs are under significant pressure when there is high density traffic at airports with the safety of aircraft and passengers. The DGCA probe will be looking at whether all norms were followed by the ATC as well as the pilots concerned,” the Guild stated. “In the video it can be seen that departure has crossed V2 speed — at which the aircraft may safely climb with one engine inoperative and nosed up and on the other end of runway arrival is touching down,” according to the Guild.
(With agency inputs)
