New Delhi: When Malaysia Airlines' MH 17 was shot down over Ukraine on
Thursday night, an Air India flight with 126 passengers was right behind
it. The flight, AI 113 en route from Birmingham to Delhi, and a
Singapore Airlines flight flying home from Copenhagen were both about 25
to 50 nautical miles (40 to 80 km) behind the ill-fated Malaysian
Boeing 777.
This gap, say pilots, is covered in less than five minutes. Both the planes clearly had a narrow escape.
A senior AI official, however, said that the Dreamliner operating as AI 113 was to take a different route. "AI director (operations) SPS Suri had issued a directive to avoid Ukraine's conflict zone ever since hostilities broke out in the region. We were taking a route that did not fly over the worst affected area that has been recognized as the conflict zone. But after the attack we have decided to avoid Ukraine completely," said an official.
Read news in full 18/07/14 Saurabh Sinha/Times of India
This gap, say pilots, is covered in less than five minutes. Both the planes clearly had a narrow escape.
A senior AI official, however, said that the Dreamliner operating as AI 113 was to take a different route. "AI director (operations) SPS Suri had issued a directive to avoid Ukraine's conflict zone ever since hostilities broke out in the region. We were taking a route that did not fly over the worst affected area that has been recognized as the conflict zone. But after the attack we have decided to avoid Ukraine completely," said an official.
Read news in full 18/07/14 Saurabh Sinha/Times of India
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