NEW DELHI, DEC 27, (DNA) – Two Indian flights averted a major collision on Delhi’s IGI airport on a foggy Tuesday morning, as they came face-to-face on the runway.

According to Indian media reports, the incident between the IndiGo and a SpiceJet aircraft happened because of “miscommunication” with the Air Traffic Control (ATC) tower.

The IndiGo flight had just arrived from Lucknow with 160 passengers and the Spicejet flight with 187 on board was about to take off for Hyderabad.

“Following Standard Operating Procedures, (the pilot) took the decision of switching off the engine and reported the incident to ATC,” IndiGo said in a statement.

“There has been no unfortunate incident or close shave-off as reported by a section of media. All 176 passengers along with the crew are safe. IndiGo flight was observing ATC instructions all the time at Delhi airport,” the statement said.

It said the matter was being investigated by the IndiGo safety department and the regulator DGCA. “At IndiGo, safety of the passengers, crew and the aircraft are of top priority – and at no time it can be compromised.”

SpiceJet also put out a statement in which it said at no point were its passengers at risk.

“SpiceJet flight SG 123 operating Delhi-Hyderabad was following ATC instructions at all times at the Delhi airport. While taxiing, the SpiceJet crew observed another aircraft on the same taxiway in the opposite direction. Acting promptly, the SpiceJet crew immediately stopped the aircraft and informed the ATC,” the airline said in a statement.=DNA

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