Jet, Indian flights involved in near misses

Two major disasters were averted today when a Jet Airways' Boeing narrowly missed colliding with a formation of Air Force jets over Rajkot while an Indian flight aborted a landing in the national capital after its pilot saw another plane on the runway.

The Jet Airways flight from Mumbai, with 94 people on board, came within 500 feet of a formation of Sukhoi-30 fighter jets participating in the 'Gagan Shakti' air exercise over Rajkot at around 8.30 am.

Finding the aircraft almost on a collision path, the ATC directed the Boeing's captain to climb, which he did. In the process, the Jet flight developed a technical problem.

It was grounded after landing at Rajkot airport. A Jet spokesman said all its passengers and crew were safe. Though there was no official version of how the near-miss occurred, reports suggested it was the outcome of a lack of coordination between the Jet crew and the ATC.

About 12 hours later, the Indian flight IC-168 from Mumbai was set to land in Delhi's Indira Gandhi airport at about 8 pm when its pilot suddenly saw another aeroplane on the runway assigned to it.

After announcing that another aircraft was on the runway, the pilot made a sharp climb that "shocked" passengers, a senior government official who was on the flight told PTI.

The Airbus A320 landed after hovering over the airport for about 20 minutes.

The Indian Air Force has constituted an inquiry "to look in detail" into the incident at Rajkot along with the Directorate General of Civil Aviation.