Mumbai, February 29: A major accident at Mumbai International Airport was averted last week when Kazakhstan's Air Astana plane entered an active runway where an Air India A319 was taking off and was at a speed of 40 knots. The potentially disastrous incident took place on February 22.
The Air India plane was preparing for takeoff to Doha at 3pm when the flight crew spotted the approaching Kazakh A320neo. Swiftly responding to the danger, they initiated an immediate takeoff rejection, averting a potential collision.
Airport Directed To Reduce Aircraft Movement:
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has confirmed that an investigation has been ordered into the incident but refrained from speculating on the likely cause. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Civil Aviation has directed the airport to reduce aircraft movements by two per hour. Such incidents typically require reporting by the involved airlines and the Air Traffic Controller.
Owing to the incident, an IndiGo flight from Nagpur executed a last-minute go-around to make another landing attempt. This disrupted the schedules of other airlines as well, resulting in a one-hour delay for the Air India flight bound for Doha.
Busiest Single-Runway Airport In India:
Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport is India’s second-busiest airport, following Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport (DEL). Mumbai operates as the busiest single-runway airport in Asia. Between April 2022 and March 2023, Mumbai Airport served nearly 44 million passengers, reflecting a nearly 50% increase from the preceding year.
Given its constant activity, air traffic controllers in Mumbai are required to operate at the highest levels of precision to ensure the safety and efficiency.
