One Near-Miss, One Go-Around

It's getting crowded in the skies over India... where authorities report not just one, but two near-miss incidents Thursday.

The first close encounter involved a Jet Airways Boeing 737-700, en route to Rajkot from Mumbai. A spokesman for the airline told Agence-France Press as the airliner made it's initial descent for landing, a Russian-made Sukhoi Su30 jet operated by the Indian air force came within about 500 feet of colliding.

The Boeing's crew received an alert from its onboard Traffic Collision Avoidance System (TCAS) and took evasive action at 23,000 feet. "The pilot gave a high pressure thrust to the engine in a sudden climb to avoid any untoward incident," the spokesman added.

None of the 89 passengers aboard the airliner were hurt; neither was the pilot of the fighter. Jet Airways decided to ground the jet in Rajkot following the incident.

A spokesman with the IAF maintained the Sukhoi (file photo of type, below) never posed a threat to the airliner, "as the airforce pilots were fully aware of the situation."

The pilots had the Boeing on radar the entire time, squadron leader Mahesh Upasani added, "but we have ordered an enquiry into the incident along with the directorate general of civil aviation."

Hours after that incident, another flight coming in from Mumbai -- this one cleared for landing in New Delhi -- had to initiate a go-around when the pilot saw another plane take the runway.

The Press Trust of India news agency reports the pilot of the Indian Airlines Airbus A320 made a sharp climb that "shocked" many passengers, quoting an unidentified senior government official who was on board the airliner.

The plane landed safely on its second landing attempt.

FMI: http://indian-airlines.nic.in/home.asp, www.jetairways.com, http://indianairforce.nic.in/