GUWAHATI: A Jet Airways flight from New Delhi to Guwahati with 136 passengers aboard came dangerously close to a possible mid-air collision with a Boeing 747 international flight over Patna on Thursday morning.
Jet Airways authorities here and in New Delhi did not respond to calls from TOI. However, two Congress MPs from Assam, who were also traveling by the Jet aircraft, shared their scary experience that lasted a few seconds.
The MPs said Jet Airways flight 9W 2280 headed for Guwahati, which was take off from New Delhi at 10.15am, was delayed by 25 minutes and the incident occurred around 11.35am.
Assam Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) chief and Rajya Sabha MP Bhubaneswar Kalita was returning home at short notice. He managed to buy a ticket at the last moment and was allotted a seat in one of the rows at the rear of the aircraft. "About an hour after we took off from New Delhi, the plane suddenly dropped down and swerved to the right. The passengers panicked and wanted to know what was wrong. We were told by the pilot that the ATC had asked him to descend as there was an incoming flight flying much below the 1,000 ft gap required between two flights."
However, the Kolkata-based regional executive director of Airports Authority of India (East), Gautam Mukherjee, said no such incident was reported by air traffic controllers either in Patna or Guwahati. "The radars at the air traffic control (ATC) bases in Patna and Guwahati did not record any hazardous flight movement during the day. I spoke to officials at both the airports and they were not aware of any close shave between the two flights."
Congress Lok sabha MP Ranee Narah was more shaken than the APCC president. "It was God's hand that saved us," she told TOI on reaching Guwahati.
Narah said around 11.30 or 11.35am, the Jet Airways flight suddenly veered towards the right. "I was traveling in executive class. I saw the right wing on top of me and realized we were actually swerving to the right. Then the flight dropped and I could feel a decrease in speed. This entire manoeuvre lasted about a few seconds and the flight was back to its normal functioning. The passengers feared that the flight might crash," Narah said.
Narah said when the aircraft resumed its normal flight, she asked a crew member about the sudden, unusual manoeuvre. "The air hostess told me that the pilot was cutting through clouds. But I told her that the weather could not have been clearer and there were no clouds to be seen. I asked her to enquire from the captain what had gone wrong and she went to ask him. Within seconds, the pilot came on the microphone and informed the passengers that there was a 747 Boeing international flight coming in the flight's path. He also regretted the inconvenience caused to the passengers."
Jet Airways authorities here and in New Delhi did not respond to calls from TOI. However, two Congress MPs from Assam, who were also traveling by the Jet aircraft, shared their scary experience that lasted a few seconds.
The MPs said Jet Airways flight 9W 2280 headed for Guwahati, which was take off from New Delhi at 10.15am, was delayed by 25 minutes and the incident occurred around 11.35am.
Assam Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) chief and Rajya Sabha MP Bhubaneswar Kalita was returning home at short notice. He managed to buy a ticket at the last moment and was allotted a seat in one of the rows at the rear of the aircraft. "About an hour after we took off from New Delhi, the plane suddenly dropped down and swerved to the right. The passengers panicked and wanted to know what was wrong. We were told by the pilot that the ATC had asked him to descend as there was an incoming flight flying much below the 1,000 ft gap required between two flights."
However, the Kolkata-based regional executive director of Airports Authority of India (East), Gautam Mukherjee, said no such incident was reported by air traffic controllers either in Patna or Guwahati. "The radars at the air traffic control (ATC) bases in Patna and Guwahati did not record any hazardous flight movement during the day. I spoke to officials at both the airports and they were not aware of any close shave between the two flights."
Congress Lok sabha MP Ranee Narah was more shaken than the APCC president. "It was God's hand that saved us," she told TOI on reaching Guwahati.
Narah said around 11.30 or 11.35am, the Jet Airways flight suddenly veered towards the right. "I was traveling in executive class. I saw the right wing on top of me and realized we were actually swerving to the right. Then the flight dropped and I could feel a decrease in speed. This entire manoeuvre lasted about a few seconds and the flight was back to its normal functioning. The passengers feared that the flight might crash," Narah said.
Narah said when the aircraft resumed its normal flight, she asked a crew member about the sudden, unusual manoeuvre. "The air hostess told me that the pilot was cutting through clouds. But I told her that the weather could not have been clearer and there were no clouds to be seen. I asked her to enquire from the captain what had gone wrong and she went to ask him. Within seconds, the pilot came on the microphone and informed the passengers that there was a 747 Boeing international flight coming in the flight's path. He also regretted the inconvenience caused to the passengers."
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