Runway collision averted in Mumbai airport

Mumbai, Feb 9 (PTI) A possible disaster was averted at
the Mumbai airport Monday when an Indian Air Force (IAF)
helicopter of India's President Pratibha Patil's fleet landed
on the runway that was to be used by an Air India plane,
forcing the aircraft pilot to abort the take off at the last
minute.

The pilot of the Air India flight to Delhi--IC 866--
aborted take off when he saw the helicopter landing on the
runway he was about to use apparently due to wrong directions
from the Air Traffic Control, official sources said.

A fleet of three helicopters including the one carrying
Patil, along with Maharashtra Governor S C Jamir and some
other dignitaries, had taken off from Mumbai's Naval base
'INS Kunjali' and were on their way to the airport since the
President was to fly to Gondia by her special IAF plane to
attend a function.

"At around 09.00 hrs today, an Air Force chopper landed
on the same runway from which Air India flight IC 866 (with
150 passengers on board) was taking off for Delhi, forcing the
pilot of the plane to abort take off at the last minute," a
Mumbai Airport official told PTI here.

The Air India aircraft, he said, was taxiing to reach the
main runway for the take off when the Air Traffic Control
talked to the pilot regarding the helicopter. The pilot
applied the brakes to bring the aircraft to a halt, he said.

Official sources later said that the President was not on
board the helicopter and that she later took off by her
special aircraft for the scheduled function.

Mumbai International Airport authorities did not comment
on the incident, saying that, "this is purely an issue
concerning the Mumbai Air Traffic Control, which had allowed
both the landing and the take off."

A probe into the incident has been ordered by the
Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), the sources
said. The probe will be headed by Joint Director
(Investigation), DGCA, A K Chopra, they said, adding that he
would be reaching here from New Delhi to join the
investigation.

Pilot of Airbus-321 Captain S S Kohli wondered how the
chopper landed when he had been given a clearance by the Air
Traffic Controller (ATC) to take off. "The chopper just landed
without taking a landing clearance. I cannot say much more,"
he said.

An IAF spokesman said in New Delhi, "the pilots of the
chopper had followed the instructions from Bombay approach
meticulously. The Presidential entourage was cleared to take
off from INS Kunjali and land at Santa Cruz between two
taxiways".

An inquiry has been ordered by the IAF into the incident,
he said.

A passenger on board the Air India flight said, "We were
going to Delhi and there were few second left for flying and
at that time the chopper came from upper side.

"Emergency brakes were applied by the captain," he said,
adding that the passengers saw the chopper which had the
Indian flag embossed on it. PTI IAS
RAI