Airport sources told DNA that the vertical air separation between the two aircraft was just 1,000 feet when it should have been at least 2,000 feet.
NEW DELHI: The IAF aircraft with UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi on board that came dangerously close to a Virgin Atlantic flight on September 10 was not equipped with a hi-tech RVSM gadget mandatory for flying the standard 1,000 feet vertical air separation.
Admitting the lapse, the Directorate of General Civil Aviation (DGCA) and the IAF top brass on Tuesday said they had ordered a high-level probe into the incident which took place when Gandhi, home minister Shivraj Patil and other ministers were en route to Kashmir.
Frantic efforts were underway in the Capital to play down the incident, and the director general of civil aviation and Indian Air Force called a press conference to clarify the issue.
“It was not an unsafe situation which could have resulted in any mishap but the DGCA team will probe the incident,” DGCA top boss Kanu Gohain said. The incident has been tagged as “a reportable air miss”.
Airport sources told DNA that the vertical air separation between the two aircraft was just 1,000 feet when it should have been at least 2,000 feet because the aircraft was not Reduced Vertical Separation Minima (RVSM) compliant.
“The IAF aircraft was not RVSM-compliant which means that it should have been flying at 2,000 feet vertical separation,” IAF’s assistant chief of air staff (operations) Air Vice Marshal KJ Mathew said.
“In the next three months, all the IAF transport aircraft will be RVSM-compliant,” said Mathew, who was fielded to do damage control. The top brass of the DGCA and IAF however maintained that the incident was not one which could have resulted in a mishap but it was a "procedural breach" of regulations.
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