A collision was narrowly avoided at Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport in Delhi on Sunday when an Ariana Afghan Airlines aircraft arriving from Kabul mistakenly touched down on a runway from which another aircraft was in the process of taking off, a senior DGCA official said, reported the PTI.
The aviation regulator has already initiated an inquiry into the episode, he added.
The Ariana Afghan Airlines A310, operating flight FG-311 (Kabul–Delhi), had been cleared to land on runway 29L. However, the aircraft instead landed on runway 29R, the official said, according to the PTI.
According to the pilot-in-command (PIC), the ILS (Instrument Landing System) signal was lost at 4 NM (nautical miles), prompting the aircraft to drift to the right, after which the captain executed a visual approach and landed on runway 29R, the official stated, the news agency reported.
The ILS is a precision radio-navigation aid offering short-range guidance to aircraft, enabling approaches to a runway at night, during adverse weather, or in poor visibility.
As reported by the PIC, the ILS was lost at 4 NM and the aircraft veered right, leading the captain to carry out a visual landing on RWY 29R. The DGCA official added that ATC had confirmed landing clearance for FG 311 on RWY 29L, and the captain had also acknowledged receiving clearance solely for RWY 29L, reported the PTI.
The PIC further alleged that beyond the Final Approach Fix, both ILS systems malfunctioned whilst the aircraft was established on the ILS approach for runway 29L.
The Final Approach Fix (FAF) denotes the start of the final approach segment within an instrument approach procedure.
“Due to poor visibility and the failure of the ILS guidance, the aircraft inadvertently deviated from the intended approach path. We were not informed by Delhi Tower of any deviation during the approach,” the PIC reported to the authorities, as per the PTI.
After landing, the pilot stated that he “realised he had landed on runway 29R,” according to the official.
“The runway deviation resulted from the ILS system failure and the consequent loss of lateral guidance in low visibility,” the PIC maintained.
(with PTI inputs)