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Emirates, Etihad planes in near-miss over India

MUMBAI, March 31, 2015

Two aircraft belonging to UAE carriers Emirates and Etihad came in proximity of each other over the Indian Ocean, leading to a collision alert warning in the two cockpits on Sunday night, reports said.

The aircraft were flying in opposite directions when the incident occurred, said a Times of India report.

The onboard warning systems advised one plane to climb and the other to descend. Both planes continued their journeys without further incident.

The Emirates flight EK706 was heading to Dubai from the Seychelles, while Etihad flight EY622 was en route to the Seychelles from Abu Dhabi.

Emirates and Etihad are operating to Seychelles using Mumbai and Muscat airspace due to the closure of Yemeni airspace in the wake of trouble in the country.

The Indian aviation regulator - the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) - has initiated an inquiry into the near-miss incident since the planes were over Indian airspace at the time, Indian reports said.

“Emirates can confirm that flight EK706 on March 29 from Seychelles to Dubai was involved in an air traffic control incident in Mumbai airspace,” a spokesperson for Emirates Airline was quoted as saying. “At no point was the aircraft, passengers or crew at risk.

“All Emirates aircraft are equipped with onboard instrumentation so that crew are alerted in a timely manner of all surrounding traffic.

“The crew informed the authorities of the incident and later filed an air safety report, which will be forwarded to Mumbai air traffic control. Safety is of paramount importance to Emirates, and we will be cooperating fully with Mumbai air traffic control in the subsequent investigation.”

An Etihad Airways spokesman was quoted by The National newspaper as saying: “Etihad Airways confirms that it is investigating a reported incident involving one of our aircraft which was en route to the Seychelles. Safety is Etihad Airways’ number one priority.”
 




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