The Airports Authority of India on Wednesday clarified that there was no close shave between aircraft at Delhi airport on Tuesday morning. The Air Traffic Controller (ATC) had erred while instructing SpiceJet and IndiGo planes along the parking bay. SpiceJet and IndiGo planes came head-to-head while taxiing at the Delhi airport.
The IndiGo plane, coming in from Lucknow, had landed at the Delhi airport and was asked by the ATC to park using taxiway ‘E2’. The SpiceJet flight was unable to take off to Hyderabad due to poor visibility and was waiting to return to the parking bay, the AAI said.
“The controller instructed SG123 [SpiceJet plane] to taxi via taxiway C and hold short of the taxiway ‘E2’ so that Indigo flight 6E-769 and SG123 would not conflict with each other,” it said. “The traffic density being high and complex, the controller inadvertently gave instructions to SG123 to continue taxi via E to stand 130, mixing its location with the location of SG263 [another SpiceJet plane] which was holding on another taxiway ‘E’ for departure,” the AAI added.
