Pakistan aghast as PIA flights narrowly avoid mid-air collision over Iran
Pakistan says Iranian officials issued ‘wrong’ instructions
Islamabad: Pakistan has decided to take up the issue with the Iranian air traffic control (ATC) to probe its alleged negligence that could have possibly led to a mid-air collision between two Pakistani commercial aircraft over the Iranian territory.
Two Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) planes came dangerously close to each other and almost collided over Iranian territory on Sunday after Iranian ATC instructions, Pakistani media reported.
PIA is now writing to Iranian ATC to investigate the matter, according to the its spokesman.
The two aircraft came really close to each other as Islamabad to Dubai PIA flight (PK-211) was at an altitude of 35,000 feet when a nearby PIA flight (PK-268), flying between Doha and Peshawar, was cleared to descend from 36,000 to 20,000 feet by Iranian officials, Pakistan’s Dawn newspaper reported.
The planes were believed to be Airbus A-320 and Boeing 777.
However, he added, the aircraft’s Traffic Collision and Avoidance System (TCAS) corrected the course for both the planes and automatically guided them.
TCAS is a technology that provides flight crews with information to prevent midair collision threats. If both planes that are TCAS equipped get too close, the system instructs one plane to climb and the other to descend to provide maximum separation.