Kathmandu: A major tragedy was averted on Friday when an Air India and a Nepal Airlines aircraft came close to collision mid-air but the warning systems alerted the pilots whose timely action prevented the disaster, authorities said here on Sunday.
The Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) has suspended two employees of the air traffic controller department for "carelessness", according to CAAN spokesperson Jagannath Niroula. On Friday morning, a Nepal Airlines plane coming to Kathmandu from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and an Air India plane coming to Kathmandu from New Delhi almost collided.
The Air India aircraft was descending from 19,000 ft while the Nepal Airlines aircraft was flying at an altitude of 15,000 ft at the same location, Niroula said. After it was shown on the radar that the two aircraft were in proximity, the Nepal Airlines aircraft descended to 7,000 ft, the spokesperson said. The Civil Aviation Authority has formed a three-member probe committee to investigate the matter. The CAAN has suspended the two officers, who were in charge of the control room at the time of the incident. There was no immediate comment from Air India.
The CAAN has decided to ban the Air India pilots in the incidents and has written to DGCA-India, the CAAN announced. The Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) has written to the Indian Commission in this regard about the decision.
The CAAN also questioned the crew over the incident on the same day 23 March after landing at Kathmandu. The pilot-in-command also accepted their mistake and apologized for it. Along with the pilots, the 3 Air Traffic Controllers, who were on duty at Kathmandu tower also have been grounded. (With Agency Inputs)
