Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport narrowly avoided a serious accident on Sunday when an Ariana Afghan Airlines flight from Kabul mistakenly landed on the runway designated for takeoff only. After the incident, an investigation into possible irregularities in the air traffic control system has been started.

Flight landed on Runway 29R at 12:07

The airline’s flight FG 311 landed on Runway 29R at 12:07 pm. This runway is generally used only for departures. Fortunately, no aircraft was in takeoff position at that time, due to which a major accident was averted.

Normally Runway 29R is designated for take-off and Runway 29L is designated for landing. Although runway usage is sometimes changed based on wind direction and operational requirements, no such temporary arrangement was confirmed during this incident.

Now the investigation focuses on whether the Airbus A310 aircraft approached the wrong runway due to pilot error, or wrong instructions were issued by the Air Traffic Control (ATC) itself. It is being determined at what level the lapse occurred and how security protocols were not followed.