An ATC officer is suspended after two planes ALMOST Collided

NewsGate Press Network

An air traffic controller posted at the Bengaluru airport has been found to be a culprit who nearly caused a collusion of two passengers planes after being cleared to take off simultaneously in the same direction on 7^th of January 2022.

On Monday the 30^th of May 2022, the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) announced its decision to suspend the concerned ATC controller for three months who was involved in ‘a breach of separation’ at Bengaluru airport.

Two IndiGo flights miraculously avoided a collision after being cleared to take off simultaneously in the same direction on January 7, 2022, after which the DGCA had ordered an inquiry into the incident.
A senior DGCA official informed that the two IndiGo flights 6E 455 (Bengaluru to Kolkata) and 6E 246 (Bengaluru to Bhubaneswar) took off simultaneously from north and south Runway and were involved in a breach of separation at Bengaluru airport.

“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.

As both aircraft after departure were on converging heading i.e. moving towards each other,” read the statement released by DGCA.
It further reads that the approach radar controller gave diverging heading to separate these aircraft.

At the closest point of conflict, the vertical and lateral separation between both aircraft was 100 feet (Standard 1000ft) and 0.9 NM (Standard 3NM).