IndiGo A321neo planes narrowly avoid mid-air collision in November; AAIB investigating the incident

Two IndiGo A321neo planes, one headed to Raipur and the other to Hyderabad, narrowly avoided a mid-air collision after departing from Delhi airport on November 17 last year.

Two IndiGo A321neo planes, one headed to Raipur and the other to Hyderabad, narrowly avoided a mid-air collision after departing from Delhi airport on November 17, 2023. The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) is investigating the incident, which it has deemed "serious."

At the closest point, the planes were only 400 feet apart vertically and 1.2 nautical miles apart laterally. The AAIB's preliminary report indicates that the planes were only 0.2 nautical miles apart at the closest lateral separation, with a vertical separation of 800 feet.

On November 17, 2023, two IndiGo aircraft, VT-IUO (an A321) and VT-ISO (an A320), were scheduled to operate flights IGO 2113 from Delhi to Hyderabad and IGO 2206 from Delhi to Raipur, respectively. IGO 2113 received departure clearance from Runway 27 at 6.30 am UTC (noon IST) and took off at 7.01 am UTC (12.31 pm IST). However, it deviated and turned left toward the takeoff path of a different runway.

Meanwhile, IGO 2206 departed from the same runway, climbing to 4000 feet. A breach of separation occurred between the two aircraft, triggering a Current Conflict alert.

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There were no injuries or damage to either aircraft. The investigation is ongoing, with data from CVR and FDR, manuals, flight folders, METAR details, initial statements from crew and controllers, and recordings of radar data and ATC tape recordings being analyzed. The investigation is being led by Anandan P, Assistant Director.