Passenger jet narrowly misses mid-air collision in Dubai

Updated
Passenger jet narrowly misses mid-air collision in Dubai
Passenger jet narrowly misses mid-air collision in Dubai


An Emirates passenger plane came within 3.5 seconds of a mid-air collision with a fighter jet as it took off from Dubai Airport, a civil aviation report has found.

The Boeing 777 flight bound for Istanbul was carrying 431 passengers.

According to Zawya, the BAE Hawk fighter jet was performing high speed exercises at low altitude near the airport and had to make an emergency manoeuvre to veer away from the Emirates plane.

No passengers were injured in the incident on 12 February at 7.37am.

According to The National, the report by the General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) said the Hawk crew was transmitting on a different frequency to Dubai air-traffic controllers.

The UAE Air Force is also investigation the reasons for this.

The fighter jet was airborne for 37 minutes before the Emirates flight took off. It had been seen on Dubai Air Traffic Control's radar crossing into airspace it should not have been on several occasions.

Michael Herrero, the head of International Air Transport Association's Gulf operations told Bloomberg that a problem is that 55 per cent of the Arabian Gulf's airspace is reserved for military use, which means less space available for commercial flights.

An Emirates spokesperson said: "Emirates can confirm that an incident involving flight EK123 took place on February 12 as mentioned in the UAE General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) preliminary report. Emirates is co-operating fully with the GCAA and is awaiting the final report.

"Safety is of paramount importance to Emirates and this incident is being treated very seriously and with the highest priority."

Related articles

Emirates plane in emergency landing after mid-air engine 'explosion'

Fight on flight over teen's 'reclined seat'

Man in isolation after contracting tropical disease following Dubai to Glasgow flight

Advertisement