ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has decided to write a letter to the Iranian air traffic control (ATC) to investigate a possible midair collision between two of its commercial aircrafts flying over the Iranian territory, confirmed relevant officials while speaking to Arab News on Tuesday.
The two Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) flights almost collided near the United Arab Emirates (UAE) airspace on Sunday after the Iranian ATC issued “wrong” instructions, PIA said.
According to a PIA spokesperson, Abdullah Khan, a Dubai-bound PIA flight, PK211, was on an altitude of 35,000 feet when nearby PIA plane, flying between Doha and Peshawar, was cleared to descent from 36,000 to 20,000 feet by Iranian officials.
The two planes came dangerously close to each other, though a crash was averted due to the traffic collision avoidance system built into the aircrafts.
“We are writing to Iranian ATC to investigate the matter,” Khan told Arab News.
He noted the Iranian officials had issued “wrong” instructions, though the collision was avoided due to the sophisticated gadgets on both planes.
PIA was considered a global leader in commercial aviation until the 1970s, though it recently faced a huge scandal when a federal aviation minister said many Pakistani pilots had fake licenses.
Prior to that, one of its domestic flights crashed in a densely populated Karachi neighborhood in May 2020, raising questions about the safety and security protocols followed by the local aviation industry.
