9.9.14

Mystery Plane off Mumbai

An Etihad aircraft winging its way from Abu Dhabi to the Far East had its traffic collision avoidance system (TCAS) alarm going off loudly in the cockpit at 6.54 am, IST ­­ indicating that another aircraft had got dangerously close to it by breaching the minimum 1,000 feet of vertical separation that has to be maintained for safety .
Some other international airlines flying near Mumbai on Friday morning also reportedly had their TCAS buzzing. The warning came when the aircraft ­­not originating from or destined for Mumbai ­­ were on aerial route P-574 between the reporting points Bodik and Adpap over the Arabian Sea and flying at 36,500 feet, say sources. The indication Etihad aircraft got was of an unidentified plane flying just 500 feet below it. It immediately reported this to the Mumbai air traffic control (ATC) which had no such plane on its radar nor had any information of another aircraft being supposed to be so close below the Etihad flight,“ said a senior official.
Luckily for Etihad and other airliners which had their collision alarms ringing, say sources, the breach of vertical separation (500 feet) was not serious enough to lead to triggering off their “resolutionary advisory“ in which an automatic message is generated for pilots to immediately change course to avoid collision. The Mumbai ATC have reported the matter to the directorate general of civil aviation (DGCA), which is investigating this blind case .

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