IndiGo Flight From Delhi to Kozhikode Directed to Abort Takeoff

In a quite rare happening, an IndiGo Airbus A320neo departing from Delhi Indira Gandhi International Airport (DEL) was directed to abort its takeoff roll by the Air Traffic Control Tower because of some events. The aircraft later headed to the terminal and passengers were swapped.

IndiGo Flights Aborts Takeoff

Yesterday, an IndiGo Airbus A320neo was getting ready to operate flight 6E5913 from Delhi Indira Gandhi International Airport (DEL) to Calicut Kozhikode International Airport (CCJ). The aircraft, a 5-year-old Airbus A320neo registered as VT-IJJ was operating this flight. Once on the runway, the aircraft received a takeoff clearance, but then, the ATC asked the pilots to abort the takeoff roll as a safety measure.

Let us have a look at the reason. The IndiGo A320neo was departing from Runway 11L. On the parallel runway 11L, an Air India Airbus A320 coming from Amritsar performed a hard landing and performed a go-around maneuver. In this maneuver, when a pilot feels like it is unsafe to land, he/she decides to take the aircraft back to some higher altitude and perform another landing attempt.

When the IndiGo aircraft was cleared to take off, the Air India flight went around. Remember, this was happening on parallel runways. In this case, the ATC would have thought that it would not be possible to maintain the separation between both aircraft. Hence, it asked the IndiGo flight to abort the takeoff.

Returned Back to Terminal

The IndiGo aircraft successfully came to a halt. After stopping, the pilots requested the ATC to head back to the terminal. An aircraft is a huge machine. When such a large machine moving with a high velocity is stopped, full brakes are applied resulting in overheating of brakes. Hence, after aborting takeoff, it is advised to let the brakes cool off. Due to overheating, there is a risk of landing gear catching a fire.

Additionally, the destination airport in this case is Kozhikode, which has a tabletop runway. I may sound like fearmongering, but in aviation, you cannot take any risk as the lives of more than 150 passengers are in the hands of two professionals sitting in the cockpit.

After reaching the terminal, all the passengers were swapped to another aircraft. The passengers deboarded from VT-IJJ and after security checks, were allowed to board another aircraft, registered as VT-IVX. After a delay of almost four hours, the flight departed from Delhi Airport. The aircraft, which was involved in aborted takeoff has also re-entered into operations.

Safety Measure: Better Safe Than Sorry

In this case, the Air Traffic Controller opted for a safety measure instead of allowing both planes to depart from parallel runways at the same time. Kudos to the controller for the prompt warning to IndiGo aircraft.

A similar incident happened at Mumbai Airport in February month. When an Air India A319 was performing its takeoff roll, an A320neo belonging to Kazakhstan-based FlyArystan entered the runway. The pilots of the Air India aircraft saw the aircraft and aborted the takeoff as a precautionary measure. An inquiry was initiated by DGCA in this incident.

In such incidents, the role of Air Traffic Control Officials (ATCOs) becomes more important. Currently, India is planning to move its entire airspace control to one center in Nagpur to enhance efficiency in operations.

Conclusion

The recent incident involving an IndiGo’a Airbus A320neo at Delhi Airport underscores the importance of Air Traffic Control in ensuring aviation safety. By aborting the takeoff due to the potential risk posed by a go-around on a parallel runway, the ATC averted a potential hazard.

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