Daijiworld Media Network - Bengaluru (MS)

Bengaluru, Jul 12: In a scary and callous incident that took place on Tuesday, Jul 11 on Bengaluru airspace, two airplanes of IndiGo missed colliding with each other by a whisker.

The aircrafts 6E 779 (from Coimbatore to Hyderabad) and 6E 6505 (from Bengaluru to Kochi) were just 200 feet away from each other in the air as per the confirmation given by an Indigo spokesperson.

There were 166 passengers onboard the Kochi-bound aircraft and 162 on the one that was going to Hyderabad.

The flight that was bound to Hyderabad was guided to climb to an altitude of 36000 feet by the Air Traffic Controller (ATC) while the other airplane bound to Kochi was asked to ascend to an altitude of 28,000 feet.

The planes came were on a collision front when 6E 779 was at 27,300 feet and 6E 6505 was at 27,500 feet, which virtually meant that the two aircraft were separated by a mere four miles from each other horizontally and just 200 feet vertically.

As per the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), the flights should maintain a minimum vertical distance of 1000 feet.

Fortunately, all the passengers on both the flights had a providential escape as the Traffic Collision Avoidance System (TCAS) beeped in both the flights and the pilots averted what could have been a major tragedy,.

It is learnt through sources that the Aircraft Accident Investigation Board (AAIB) has started an investigation into the mishap.