On May 2, two planes owned by the airliners IndiGo and Air Deccan came very close to a mid-air collision, most likely due to a pilot error involving the violation of required separation limits between aircraft, Sputnik reports.
According to NDTV, the incident occurred while IndiGo flight 6E892 was flying from the southern Indian city of Kolkata to the northern city of Agartala as Air Deccan flight DN602 was flying the reverse trip. The two planes passed only 700 meters from one another — that's practically rubbing elbows for jets going hundreds of miles per hour.
According to the IndiGo pilot, he was at the correct air level and was following standard operating procedures.
"The Air Deccan flight DN 602 was on the descent to Agartala from 9,000 feet flight level, while the IndiGo flight 6E 892 was on the climb after taking off. It was, however, told to maintain 8,300 feet flight level, which triggered Traffic Collision Avoidance System (TCAS) and forced the two pilots to steer their planes to a safer distance," according to sources the Indian Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB).
The Traffic Collision Avoidance System is onboard equipment that notifies pilots of other planes in close proximity to their aircraft and provides instructions, referred to as resolution advisory, on how to achieve the required separation between them.
"IndiGo flight 6E-892 (CCU-IXA) operated by VT-IDQ aircraft was involved in resolution advisory incident with a non-scheduled operator on May 2 while descending for landing at Agartala," an IndiGo spokesperson said, the Times of India reported.
The Indian Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau is currently investigating the incident.