Chennai, Dec 22 (PTI): A major mishap was averted at the airport here when a Kingfisher aircraft was stopped from taking off by an alert air traffic control just when a SpiceJet plane was landing late Monday night, airport sources said today.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation has launched an inquiry into the incident, as Kingfisher officials said two pilots of the Chennai-Coimbatore flight have been taken off duty for an internal probe.

It was not clear how many passengers were on board the two planes.
While the SpiceJet flight coming in from Hyderabad was cleared for landing at around 8.40 PM, the Kingfisher aircraft allegedly rolled off the taxi track on to the main runway, poised to begin its take-off, the sources said.

This put both the planes on the same track which could have led to an accident, they said, adding it was not clear as to how the Kingfisher's ATR turboprop aircraft had come into the runway from the 'waiting area' on the taxi track.

The ATC officials immediately asked the SpiceJet pilots not to land and make a 'go around' and the Kingfisher crew to abort take-off and clear the runway, the sources said.

A Kingfisher spokesperson said, "We are enquiring into this. As a matter of normal procedure, the pilots in question have been de-rostered for purposes of the internal inquiry."

Sources in the DGCA said a sitting of the inquiry would be held tomorrow.