Dubai: An Emirates airline flight carrying more than 400 passengers narrowly avoided a mid-air collision with a fighter jet as it took off out of Dubai international Airport, officials have confirmed to Gulf News.
The Boeing 777 aircraft, which was bound for Istanbul, came within 3.5 seconds of hitting the Hawk military jet, which had been performing high speed manoeuvres at a low altitude near the airport, the General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA), UAE’s aviation industry regulator, report found.
The incident, which occurred in February, saw the BAE Systems-made jet flying at a speed of approximately 400 mph towards the commercial flight. At their closest point, the aircraft were separated by just 100 feet vertically and 1800 feet horizontally.
“The UAE General Civil Aviation Authority is investigating this incident with utmost care and it has published the preliminary report on its website. As for the final report, GCAA is following closely with all involved parties to prepare a final report. GCAA’s main priorities remain safety and security of UAE skies,” Ismaeil Abdelwahed, Executive Director Air Accident Investigation Sector, GCAA, told Gulf News, when contacted.
The Emirates plane had been in the air for just 16 seconds when air traffic controllers warned the pilot of the incoming Hawk fighter, which was forced to bank and turn sharply to avoid a collision.
“At this stage of the [Emirates flight’s] climb, it was not possible to take any avoidance action,” the CAA report read. Following the incident, which did not result in any injuries, the flight continued on its journey to Istanbul.
“Emirates can confirm that an incident involving flight EK123 took place on the February 12, 2013 as mentioned in the GCAA preliminary report. Emirates is co-operating fully with the GCAA and is awaiting the final report,” an Emirates spokesperson told Gulf News.
“Safety is of paramount importance to Emirates and this incident is being treated very seriously and with the highest priority.”
According to the CAA investigation, the military jet had been observed on radar straying across some airspace sectors and identified confusion between air traffic controllers and the fighter as the one of key causes of the near collision.
The UAE Air Force is conducting its own investigation into the incident. The UAE which has eight civil airports in addition to a number of military airstrips, is also home to five national airlines - all growing at full speed. At least five new aircraft join the growing fleets of UAE’s airlines every month — crowding the skies. Dubai International Airport — the busiest in the Middle East and North Africa — recorded a total of 31,121 aircraft movements, up 10 per cent compared to 28,304 in May 2012. This translates to more than a thousand flights a day on an average. With growing number of aircraft and flight movements in such a small airspace, all stakeholders need to exercise operations with greater caution, to avoid mid-air collisions, experts warn.“The UAE has a safe aviation industry, barring a few incidents in Dubai and Sharjah - caused by foreign airlines and freight operators. However, the flight operation needs to exercise greater caution as Dubai International reaches near capacity amid expansion of Emirates and flyDubai,” said an aviation analyst, requesting anonymity. “So far, none of the UAE’s airlines have been in any serious incidents. But that doesn’t mean that they are immune. Greater caution will be needed in future as the UAE’s skies are getting over-crowded.”
