Foreign airlines' aircraft narrowly escape mid-air collision

A major tragedy was avoided when an Air India and a Nepal Airlines aircraft narrowly escaped mid-air collision after the warning systems alerted the pilots whose timely action averted the catastrophe.

According to the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) spokesperson, the CAAN has suspended two employees from their air traffic controller department for “carelessness”.

On Friday morning, a Nepal Airlines plane coming to Kathmandu from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and an Air India plane coming to Kathmandu from New Delhi almost collided.

The Air India aircraft was descending from 19,000 ft while the Nepal Airlines aircraft was flying at an altitude of 15,000 ft at the same location, Niroula said.

After it was shown on the radar that the two aircraft were in proximity, the Nepal Airlines aircraft descended to 7,000 ft, the spokesperson said. The Civil Aviation Authority has formed a three-member probe committee to investigate the matter.

The CAAN has suspended the two officers, who were in charge of the control room at the time of the incident. There was no immediate comment from Air India.