AAIB New Report Flags Air Traffic Coordination Failure for Air Arabia, AeroLogic Close Call
Pakistani airspace closure causes dangerous air traffic incident.
A serious incident involving two international flights at Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport on May 4 put 168 passengers and crew at risk, according to a new Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) report. The incident, classified as an Airprox (loss of safe separation), occurred at 2:30 am, involving Air Arabia flight ABY405 from Sharjah with 166 passengers and AeroLogic’s cargo flight BOX622 from Frankfurt with two crew members.
The closure of Pakistani airspace over Karachi’s Jinnah International Airport from April 24 to May 23 significantly increased air traffic density in the region, overwhelming air traffic controllers in Muscat and Mumbai. The AAIB report pinpointed a coordination failure at Muscat Airport and delayed response from Mumbai’s Operations Control Centre as the primary causes. The conflict occurred at the PARAR waypoint, on the boundary of the Flight Information Region (FIR) between Mumbai and Muscat, where the two aircraft were only three minutes apart instead of the required 10-minute separation.
Both flights converged at the VAXIM waypoint, following the same route under Muscat Control – Sector Alpha before being handed over to Mumbai via high-frequency communication. The Muscat controller, distracted by training a novice, struggled with heightened workload, while Mumbai’s controller was forced to juggle multiple roles due to an absent coordinator. This led to a critical delay in monitoring the situation. No flight level change was recorded for the Air Arabia flight, and a stuck flight plan in an error queue failed to trigger conflict alerts.
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The Mumbai controller eventually resolved the situation by ordering the AeroLogic flight to deviate and descend from flight level 350 to 310, averting a potential collision. The AAIB emphasized that understaffing and dual roles for controllers were significant factors in the incident. To prevent future risks, the bureau recommended ensuring adequate staffing at all Air Traffic Control positions and prohibiting instructors from multitasking during operations.
The incident highlights the cascading effects of regional airspace restrictions and the critical need for robust air traffic management to ensure passenger safety.
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