A major air tragedy involving Air India averted

A major tragedy was averted on March 24 near the Kathmandu skies when an Air India and a Nepal Airlines aircraft came close to collision mid-air but the warning systems alerted the pilots whose timely action prevented the disaster, authorities said.

The Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) has suspended three employees of the air traffic controller department for "carelessness", according to its spokesperson.

On March 24^th morning, an Airbus A-320 aircraft of the Nepal Airlines coming to Kathmandu from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and an Air India plane coming to Kathmandu from New Delhi almost collided.

The Air India aircraft was descending from 19,000 ft while the Nepal Airlines aircraft was flying at an altitude of 15,000 ft at the same location, the spokesperson was quoted by media reports

After it was shown on the radar that the two aircraft were in proximity, the Nepal Airlines aircraft descended to 7,000 ft, the spokesperson said.

The Civil Aviation Authority has formed a three-member probe committee to investigate the matter.

The CAAN has suspended the three officers, who were in charge of the control room at the time of the incident. Air India however chose not to comment on the incident.