In a bizarre incident, two India-bound Emirates flights at Dubai airport that were scheduled for the take-off in a gap of five minutes entered a near-collision situation. After rejecting the take-off immediately, the air traffic controller managed to avert the accident, saving hundreds of lives on board. The flights involved in the incident were Emirates EK-524 from Dubai-Hyderabad and Emirates EK-568 from Dubai-Bengaluru. Both flights are jets.
A person aware of the incident reportedly told ANI that the incident would have resulted in a major crash if not averted. According to the witness, the Dubai-Hyderabad flight was accelerating for take-off from Dubai airport runway 30R when the airline crew saw another aircraft (Dubai-Bengaluru flight) coming in the same direction at high-speed. The Air Traffic Controller (ATC) immediately rejected the take-off of both flights. Aircraft EK-524 Dubai-Hyderabad cleared the runway via taxiway N4. While the Dubai-Bengaluru flight took off after the incident, Emirates Dubai to Hyderabad flight waited at the taxi bay. Emirates EK-524 was scheduled to depart at 9.45 pm, while Emirates EK-568 was scheduled to take off at 9.50 pm.
According to a news report by Aviation Herald, the Dubai-Hyderabad flight was on the runway without clearance. The aircraft already travelled 2,600 feet down the runway and reached a speed of 130 knots before averting the take-off.
Emirates agreed that some safety breach had occurred but confirmed that no aircraft damage had been reported in the incident. Reportedly, Emirates has ordered an internal inquiry.
The Air Accident Investigation Sector, the aviation investigation authority of UAE, has also ordered a probe into the incident.
DGCA asks Dubai to share investigation report of Emirates flights near-collision incident
The Indian aviation regulatory authority, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), has requested its Dubai counterpart UAE’s General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) to share the investigation report of the incident.
“Both are their registered aircraft, and the place of occurrence is their airport, and so, as per ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organisation), it will be investigated by them. However, we have asked them to share the investigation report as and when available,” DGCA chief Arun Kumar told PTI.
