Delhi airport narrowly averts disaster as Kabul-bound plane lands on wrong runway, another aircraft on takeoff

New Delhi (The Uttam Hindu): A major plane crash was narrowly avoided at Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) on Sunday. An Ariana Afghan Airlines flight from Kabul landed on the wrong runway due to the pilot's negligence. Fortunately, a major accident was avoided because another plane was taking off from the same runway where the plane mistakenly landed. A small mistake could have cost the lives of hundreds of passengers.

What was the entire incident? A senior DGCA official stated that the Ariana Afghan Airlines A-310 aircraft (flight number FG 311) was flying from Kabul to Delhi. Air Traffic Control (ATC) had cleared the plane to land on Runway 29L (Left). However, despite the confirmation, the pilot landed on Runway 29R (Right). This is being considered a serious safety lapse.

Pilot's argument: 'Signal was lost' After the incident, the pilot in command of the flight has cited a technical fault in his explanation. The pilot claims that when the plane was 4 nautical miles away from landing, his Instrument Landing System (ILS) signal was suddenly lost. Due to the loss of signal, the plane turned to the right. After this, amidst poor visibility, the captain decided to land on the basis of 'visual approach' (eye sight) and the plane mistakenly landed on runway 29R. The pilot also alleged that he was not given any warning from Delhi Tower about the deviation from the path.

DGCA orders investigation The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has taken the incident very seriously and has launched a detailed investigation. The official stated that ATC had clearly given permission to land on 29L, and the pilot had acknowledged it. The investigation is now focused on whether there was a real malfunction in the aircraft's systems or human error on the part of the pilot.

What is ILS? It's worth noting that ILS (Instrument Landing System) is a precision radio navigation system. It helps aircraft land safely and accurately at night, in bad weather, or in low visibility (fog). Failure or loss of signal from this system can make landing extremely risky.