DGCA suspends ATC who okayed IndiGo flights that got here too shut after take-off

India’s aviation security regulator DGCA has suspended an air visitors controller for 3 months for approving simultaneous departures of two IndiGo flights at Bengaluru airport on January 7 — a transfer that led to the planes coming dangerously shut to one another simply after take-off.

The two IndiGo flights — 6E455 (Bengaluru to Kolkata) and 6E246 (Bengaluru to Bhubaneswar) — averted a mid-air collision over the Bengaluru airport simply after their simultaneous take-off from north runway and south runway, respectively, on January 7 morning.

In an announcement on Monday, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) mentioned: “South tower controller gave departure to 6E 455 in coordination with Approach Radar controller and at the same time North tower controller gave departure to 6E 246 without prior coordination with south tower controller and Approach Radar controller.”

ExplainedToo shut for consolation

Such incidents, referred to as “breach of separation” in regulatory parlance, happen when two plane cross the minimal obligatory vertical or horizontal distance within the airspace.

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As each plane, after departure, had been on converging heading (shifting in direction of one another), Approach Radar controller gave diverging heading to separate these plane, the regulator famous.

“At the closest point of conflict, the vertical and lateral separation between both aircraft was 100 feet (compared to a standard 1,000 feet) and 0.9 nautical miles (compared to a standard 3 nautical miles),” the DGCA acknowledged.

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This matter was labeled as “serious incident” and was investigated by the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB). Based on the regulatory evaluation, DGCA has determined to challenge a “warning letter to Tower supervisor for not monitoring the activities of the ATC (air traffic controller) tower and non-reporting of (the) incident”.

Further, the licence of the “North tower controller who was also the watch supervisory officer (WSO) of the shift” has been suspended for a interval of three months as he didn’t comply with procedures and guidelines concerning runway operations and he didn’t report the incident, the DGCA added.