Chennai:
For the second time this year, a disaster was reportedly averted on the runway of the Chennai airport through the vigilance of Air Traffic Control officials.
According to sources, two flights, one that was cleared to land and the other that was scheduled to take off, came very close to colliding on the runway on Monday night.
A little after 8.30 pm, a SpiceJet flight was scheduled to land and was given clearance by the ATC.
However, for reasons still not clear, a Kingfisher Airlines flight that was to take off within that time bracket, allegedly rolled off the 'waiting' taxi track and moved onto the main runway, poised to begin its take off.
This is said to have put both the planes on the same track, and would have led to disaster had the plane landed.
After the plane was noticed, ATC warned the SpiceJet plane to defer landing and kept it in the air till the runway was cleared. Officials described the issue as trivial, but ATC officials termed it a close call.
Officials described the issue as trivial, but ATC officials termed it a close call.