Emirates and Etihad planes in ‘near miss’ over Mumbai airspace

Dubai — The Indian civil aviation authorities have begun an investigation into an incident in which an Emirates and an Etihad plane came “dangerously” close to each other over Indian airspace on Sunday night. No one was injured in the “near miss” after the pilots took evasive action.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation is probing the incident, Indian agencies reported. Warning systems on aircraft generally alert pilots of airplanes in the vicinity. Mumbai air traffic controllers also reportedly warned commanders of the planes with a Resolution Advisory, which is given when the distance between two aircraft reduces to 25 seconds.

Pilots are expected to climb, descend or level out within six seconds from the issuance of such an advisory.

Emirates flight EK 706 was on its way from the Indian Ocean island of Seychelles to Dubai, while Etihad flight EY 622 was headed for the Seychelles from Abu Dhabi. An Emirates spokesperson confirmed flight EK 706 was involved in an Air Traffic Control incident in Mumbai airspace.

“At no point was the aircraft, passengers or crew at risk. All Emirates aircraft are equipped with onboard instrumentation so that crew are alerted in a timely manner of all surrounding traffic,” the spokesperson said.

The spokesperson said the crew informed the authorities of the incident and later filed an Air Safety Report, which will be forwarded to Mumbai Air Traffic Control. “Safety is of paramount importance to Emirates, and we will be cooperating fully with Mumbai Air Traffic Control in the subsequent investigation.”

Agencies reported Emirates and Etihad are operating to Seychelles over Mumbai and Muscat following the closure of the airspace over Yemen.

“Etihad Airways confirms that it is investigating a reported incident involving one of our aircraft which was en route to the Seychelles. Safety is Etihad Airways’ number one priority,” said a spokesperson.

allan@khaleejtimes.com