A collision of two India-bound flights averted at Dubai airport

Dubai : Hundreds of lives were saved today as a collision of two India-bound flights was averted at Dubai airport. According to the Emirates flight schedule, EK-524 Dubai to Hyderabad and EK-568 Dubai to Bengaluru were scheduled to take off for their destinations within a gap of five minutes from each other on Sunday.

According to a news report, when the Hyderabad bound flight started speeding on the runway, the Bengaluru flight was also on the runway preparing for take-off.

"EK-524 from Dubai-Hyderabad was accelerating for take-off from runway 30R, when the crew saw another aircraft coming in the same direction at high speed. Take-off was immediately instructed by ATC to be rejected. The aircraft slowed down safely and cleared the runway via taxiway N4, which crossed the runway. Another emirates flight EK-568, from Dubai to Bangalore, was rolling for departure was to take-off from same runway 30R," a person aware of the incident told news agency ANI.

After ATC’s intervention, Bengaluru-bound flight took off and the Hyderabad-bound flight was sent back to the taxi bay and took off after a couple of minutes.

“Safety is always our top priority, and as with any incident we are conducting our own internal review. The incident is also under investigation by the UAE AAIS,” Emirates spokesperson told ANI.

In the preliminary reports, it was found that the Hyderabad bound EK-524 was rolling for take-off without ATC clearance.