2 Planes Were 1.8 km Apart, Vigilant Woman Pilot Saves Over 300 Lives In Delhi

Thanks to an attentive pilot on the earlier aircraft, tragedy was almost avoided at Delhi Airport this afternoon following a Vistara flight from Ahmedabad and another aircraft of the same carrier, the two carrying a combined total of about 300 people.

Air Traffic Control had asked the Ahmedabad-Delhi jet to cross an active runway in order to go to the parking space after it had just landed. A collision was only avoided because of Captain Sonu Gill, a 45-year-old pilot on the Ahmedabad-Delhi flight, who had been given permission to take off on the same runway as the Vistara Airlines flight from Delhi to Bagdogra.

The sources stressed that the outcome could have been fatal if the pilot had not informed ATC of the existence of the other plane despite the fact that the planes were only 1.8 km, or 1,800 metres, apart.

The Vistara aircraft VTI926 had landed on Runway 29L and was instructed by ATC to cross Runway 29R in order to reach its parking bay, according to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).

However, the ATC representative instructed flight VTI725 to take off from Runway 29R after “momentarily forgetting” the instructions provided to VTI926. ATC “on realising the error, based on input from VTI926, tower controller instructed VTI725 to cancel takeoff,” according to the regulator’s statement.

The aircraft on its takeoff run (VTI725) was told to abort takeoff, according to the aviation authority, after an alert pilot in the aircraft crossing the runway (VTI926) warned ATC.

The DGCA has derostered the ATC employee in charge of the runway incursion incident.

When told to cancel its takeoff, the Delhi-Bagdogra aeroplane promptly retracted off the active runway and went back to its parking space. According to officials, the jet was refuelled to ensure it had enough fuel for the second attempt at takeoff and to allow the pilot to return to Delhi in case of inclement weather at or on the way to Bagdogra..

According to sources, when the captain of the flight to Bagdogra indicated that the plane would not take off owing to instructions from ATC, the passengers reportedly grew a little uneasy.

At the Delhi airport, it is customary to prohibit the movement of any aircraft or vehicles while a plane is taking off or landing. Senior pilot Captain Amit Singh, who also founded the Safety Matters Foundation, told  that when operating from closely spaced runways, “enhanced monitoring and stricter adherence to SOPs are required to avoid a potential traffic collision.”

The second Vistara jet was going to the end of the newly opened runway after landing on a parallel runway while the Delhi-Bagdogra flight was taking off from the newly opened runway.