A major collision between two India-bound Emirates aircraft during take-off was prevented at the Dubai airport on Sunday, 9 January.
The two flights – the EK-524 heading for Hyderabad and EK-568 heading for Bengaluru – were scheduled for take-off with only a five-minute gap on the same runway.
Indian aviation regulator, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), was apprised of the incident and has asked the United Arab Emirates' (UAE’s) General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) to share its investigation report.
DGCA chief Arun Kumar told PTI on Friday: “Both are their registered aircraft and the place of occurrence is their airport and so, as per ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organisation), it will be investigated by them.”
What Had Happened?
Sources told news agency ANI that the Emirates flight EK-524 was accelerating for take-off from runway 30R when the crew spotted another aircraft, EK-568, coming in the same direction at high speed.
The Air Traffic Control (ATC) immediately rejected the take-off. The aircraft slowed down safely and cleared the runway via taxiway N4, which crossed the runway.
The ATC intervened on time, and the Bengaluru-bound flight took off, while the Hyderabad-bound flight took off a few minutes later.
Serious Safety Lapse
The UAE’s aviation investigation body, the Air Accident Investigation Sector (AAIS), has launched a probe into the “serious safety lapse” of the two Boeing-777 aircraft. According to the preliminary report, the Hyderabad-bound EK-524 flight was rolling for take-off without the ATC clearance.
Emirates also released a statement acknowledging the incident and said that an internal inquiry has been set up against the aircraft’s crew.
"Safety is always our top priority, and as with any incident we are conducting our own internal review. The incident is also under investigation by the UAE AAIS."Emirates said in a statement.
(With inputs from PTI and ANI.)
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