Two Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) aircrafts narrowly escaped a mid-air collision on Sunday when they came in close contact with each other in the Iranian airspace.
Both the planes were traveling on the same route and altitude due to the alleged negligence of the Iranian Air Traffic Control. The Iranian Air Traffic Control had cleared the route for the planes at the same altitude.
According to the details, a PIA Boeing 777 was en route from Islamabad to Dubai while PIA’s other aircraft Airbus A320 was also heading toward Doha to Peshawar when they came dangerously close to each other over the Iranian airspace near the UAE.
The Traffic Collision Avoidance System of the planes got activated and one of the aircraft descended and another ascended as per the practice. TCAS is installed in the aircraft and automatically connects with the TCAS of the aircraft.
A PIA spokesperson confirmed the incident to the newspaper and said: “PIA is writing to Iranian air traffic control (ATC) to investigate as the Iranian ATC instructed the plane, but it was wrong.”
The Iranian officials had issued “wrong” instructions, though the collision of two PIA aircrafts was avoided due to the sophisticated gadgets on both planes. #PIA https://t.co/zIqhoH1rup
— Naimat Khan (@NKMalazai) July 26, 2022
According to the details, PIA flight PK-211 a Boeing 777 from Islamabad to Dubai was traveling at an altitude of 35,000 feet when it came into close contact with Peshawar-bound flight PK-268 of Airbus from Doha. The flight was traveling at a distance of an altitude of 36,000 feet. The aircraft was cleared to descend 20,000 feet. The descent would have come in the flight path of PIA flight of Boeing 777 PK-211, the spokesman added.
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But the TCAS system alerted the planes and corrected the direction. Captain Samiullah was flying Airbus A320 while Captain Athar Haroon was flying Boeing 777. Pilots were praised for averting the accident.
Pakistan has decided to write a letter to the Iranian Air Traffic Control to investigate the possible mid-air collision. “We are writing to Iranian ATC to investigate the matter,” says PIA spokesperson Abdullah Khan. He noted that the Air Traffic Control System gave wrong instructions to the aircrafts.