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Mystery plane gives jitters to international airliners near Mumbai
India's dangerous western neighbourhood that is
kept under aerial surveillance by military planes of global
superpowers gave the jitters to some international commercial
flights flying over the Arabian Sea about 450 to 480km from
Mumbai's coastline early on Saturday morning.
An Etihad aircraft winging its way from Abu Dhabi to the Far
East had its traffic collision avoidance system (TCAS) alarm
going off loudly in the cockpit at 6.54am (IST), indicating that
another aircraft had got dangerously close to it by breaching the
minimum 1,000 feet of vertical separation that has to be
maintained for safety.
Some other international airlines flying near Mumbai on
Saturday morning also reportedly had their TCAS buzzing. The
warning came when the aircraft — not originating from or
destined for Mumbai — were on aerial route P-574 between the
reporting points Bodik and Adpap over the Arabian Sea and
flying at 36,500 feet, said sources.
"The indication Etihad aircraft got was of an unidentified plane
flying just 500 feet below it. It immediately reported this to the
Mumbai air traffic control (ATC), which had no such plane on its
radar nor had any information of another aircraft being supposed
to be so close below the Etihad flight," said a senior official.
Luckily for Etihad and other airliners which had their collision
alarms ringing, said sources, the breach of vertical separation
(500 feet) was not serious enough to lead to the triggering off of
their "resolutionary advisory" in which an automatic message is
generated for pilots to immediately change course to avoid
collision.
The Mumbai ATC have reported the matter to the directorate
general of civil aviation (DGCA), which is now investigating this
case as the credentials of the unidentified plane are unlikely to
be ever known.
However, sources said the unidentified plane could have
belonged to the US Air Force, and it was not on any civil or
military radar. The US uses the Diego Garcia islands in the south
Indian Ocean as its air force base for keeping an eye on India's
troubled western neighborhood. Reconnaissance missions and
military exercises are mounted from these islands, they said.
"Military and government planes on sensitive or classified
missions like reconnaissance do not file their flight plans with
ATCs of the regions they will be flying over. Such planes fly with
'due regard' to civil air traffic using visual flight rules, which
basically mean they just see and fly," said sources. But
breaches of the 'minimum distance for vertical separation' in
areas swarming with such aircraft can be a hazard for
commercial traffic.
Since the warning came from planes flying at 36,500 feet,
chances are the unidentified aircraft was on a reconnaissance
flight as fighter jets don't fly that high.
Mystery plane gives jitters to international airliners near Mumbai - TOI Mobile | The Times of India Mobile Site
India's dangerous western neighbourhood that is
kept under aerial surveillance by military planes of global
superpowers gave the jitters to some international commercial
flights flying over the Arabian Sea about 450 to 480km from
Mumbai's coastline early on Saturday morning.
An Etihad aircraft winging its way from Abu Dhabi to the Far
East had its traffic collision avoidance system (TCAS) alarm
going off loudly in the cockpit at 6.54am (IST), indicating that
another aircraft had got dangerously close to it by breaching the
minimum 1,000 feet of vertical separation that has to be
maintained for safety.
Some other international airlines flying near Mumbai on
Saturday morning also reportedly had their TCAS buzzing. The
warning came when the aircraft — not originating from or
destined for Mumbai — were on aerial route P-574 between the
reporting points Bodik and Adpap over the Arabian Sea and
flying at 36,500 feet, said sources.
"The indication Etihad aircraft got was of an unidentified plane
flying just 500 feet below it. It immediately reported this to the
Mumbai air traffic control (ATC), which had no such plane on its
radar nor had any information of another aircraft being supposed
to be so close below the Etihad flight," said a senior official.
Luckily for Etihad and other airliners which had their collision
alarms ringing, said sources, the breach of vertical separation
(500 feet) was not serious enough to lead to the triggering off of
their "resolutionary advisory" in which an automatic message is
generated for pilots to immediately change course to avoid
collision.
The Mumbai ATC have reported the matter to the directorate
general of civil aviation (DGCA), which is now investigating this
case as the credentials of the unidentified plane are unlikely to
be ever known.
However, sources said the unidentified plane could have
belonged to the US Air Force, and it was not on any civil or
military radar. The US uses the Diego Garcia islands in the south
Indian Ocean as its air force base for keeping an eye on India's
troubled western neighborhood. Reconnaissance missions and
military exercises are mounted from these islands, they said.
"Military and government planes on sensitive or classified
missions like reconnaissance do not file their flight plans with
ATCs of the regions they will be flying over. Such planes fly with
'due regard' to civil air traffic using visual flight rules, which
basically mean they just see and fly," said sources. But
breaches of the 'minimum distance for vertical separation' in
areas swarming with such aircraft can be a hazard for
commercial traffic.
Since the warning came from planes flying at 36,500 feet,
chances are the unidentified aircraft was on a reconnaissance
flight as fighter jets don't fly that high.
Mystery plane gives jitters to international airliners near Mumbai - TOI Mobile | The Times of India Mobile Site
