Emirates, Etihad Nearly Collide In Indian Airspace

An Emirates flight and an Etihad plane, which were travelling in opposite directions, nearly collided with each other over the Indian airspace on Sunday night.

The planes changed course after an onboard warning system in cockpits alerted the pilots of the impending collision as they came into each other’s proximity. The system directed one flight to descend and the other to increase altitude.

Emirates EK 706 was returning to Dubai from Seychelles while Etihad’s EY622 was flying to Seychelles from Abu Dhabi.

Both airlines were using the air routes over Mumbai and Muscat after Yemen shut down its airspace in the wake of the conflict.

“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 said.

“At no point was the aircraft, passengers or crew at risk.”

Etihad also confirmed the incident and said that it is investigating it.

India’s aviation watchdog the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has ordered a probe into the incident, local media reported.

The near-miss collision comes nearly four years after another incident in an Indian airport.

An Emirates jet, taking off from the Indian city of Trivandrum, found itself on the same runway with another plane that just landed, leading to a possible collision.

However Indian authorities dismissed any cause for concern in that case saying that both aircraft were at least three nautical miles away from each other.