Potentially serious sky drama and on-the-ball piloting by UL crew
The debt- ridden national carrier, Sri Lankan Airlines (UL), was in the news this week not on the usual focus of how many billions of rupees it is losing every year but on the conduct of two of its pilots who, according to the pilots themselves, narrowly averted a mid-air disaster.
Media reports, including the Daily Mirror, indicated how the UL504 pilots flying an Airbus A330- 300 registered as 4R- ALM, ignored Turkish air traffic control's (ATC) request to climb 2,000 feet from 33,000 feet to 35,000 feet as another flight-- a British Airways Boeing 777-200 registered as G-VIIG flight BA105--was closing in on the UL's flight path at the same altitude, on Monday. The two aircraft were heading across Germany and Romania before crossing the Black Sea passing over the Eastern part of Turkey. Both aircraft were heading for Dubai.
Flight tracking shows BA105 suddenly climbing 2,000 feet and skewing slightly off course. Is BA now trying to take credit for the evasive action? Either way, why the Turkish ATC did not spot the
BA flight when it asked UL to climb is a question that needs an answer. SriLankan Airlines is reported to have asked for an investigation, but this was not confirmed.
The Sri Lankan Airlines flight UL504 with 275 people on board was en route from London Heathrow (LHR) to Bandaranaike International Airport ( CMB) while the British Airways jet was heading for Dubai. The confidential report compiled by the UL
crew over the incident was also leaked to social media.
A veteran commercial pilot said modern flights like the Air Bus 330- 300 have state- of- the- art communication and advanced radar facilities to track the air movements up to a thirty mile radius while flying. While downplaying the incident, he pointed out that this is why pilots are subjected to continuous training and more flying hours to ensure the safety of the passengers. Well
trained pilots help.
"SriLankan confirms that UL504 was not at risk of a mid-air collision with another aircraft at any point. The vigilance of the pilots and the state-of-the-art communication and surveillance system on board the aircraft enabled safe passage for UL504," the airline said in a statement while commending the timely action of the pilots operating UL504.
The chief pilot of UL504 was Captain Navin de Silva.