A Wing And A Prayer: Planes That Almost Crashed

Near Collision at Shanghai Airport

Error (possibly miscommunication) by air-traffic control appears to be the culprit for a near-collision at Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport, according to the Civil Aviation Administration of China. The Airbus A320 jet was taking off just as an Airbus A330 taxied across its flight path.

The Airbus A320 continued in the take-off from the runway and was able to avoidcollision but the incident was under investigation.Qi Qi, an aviation expert based in Guangzhou, said, “Such incidents happened when an airport was so busy.” The airport reportedly handles some 40 million passengers every year.

Two Planes Nearly Collide in Goa Airspace

A SpiceJet’s Bombardier Q400 plane came into close proximity with a GoAir flight (G8-141) on the Nagpur-Mumbai route, in Goa airspace. They received a Traffic Collision Avoidance System (TCAS) warning, took evasive action to avoid the collision and checked in with the Goa air traffic control.

As you’d probably imagine, a probe was initiated by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), to investigate what happened, and to issue findings in the hopes that they can avoid similar incidents in the future. The fact that the warning alarm went off meant that they were within 1,000 feet of each other, which is considered a “breachinthis separation.” Very bad!