India Crash Casts Glare on Air Traffic System

The how and why of the world’s worst midair collision is as yet unexplained, but on Wednesday critics were eager to say I told you so, making India’s air traffic system appear more like a mortal game of dodge ball.

The flight recorders of the doomed planes, which collided over India on Tuesday, have now been recovered. Transcripts show that the crew of the Kazakh aircraft had been warned of an oncoming Saudi jumbo jet.

Nevertheless, air traffic controllers said the collision could have been avoided if their jobs were not hampered by outdated equipment.

“In the days of satellites and cell phones, sometimes it seems we don’t have the tools to communicate at all,” complained Brijendra Sekhar, president of the controllers’ guild.

Tuesday’s crash of the Saudi 747-100 and the Kazakh cargo plane killed 349 people. Sekhar claimed that the New Delhi airport needed a more sensible approach to safety: separate flight paths for arrivals and departures, and up-to-date radar gear that is the standard in most nations.

Indian pilots agree about what they consider to be the scary nature of the nation’s skies. “Transponders need to be installed at all our airports,” said V.K. Bhalla, regional president of the Indian Commercial Pilots’ Assn. “This equipment is used all over the world. It gives controllers exceptionally accurate data about altitude, direction and speed. With that in place, it makes the chance of a midair collision practically nil.”

Some foreign pilots say they have had no problems flying in India. Others, however, refer to the airspace here as “the black hole” and bemoan the low quality of information they receive from controllers. In the past five years, as India has liberalized its economy, air traffic has increased fivefold.

Wednesday, as faint past criticisms suddenly became a noisy chorus, government officials defended their guidance systems. “Whatever air traffic did was absolutely right,” said Yogesh Chandra, India’s top civilian aviation official. He added that upgraded equipment is already being put in place.

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Transcripts from the flight recorders show that controllers warned the pilot of the incoming Kazakh plane about the outgoing Saudi Arabian Airlines Boeing 747 approaching through the clouds. The Saudi plane was supposed to be at 14,000 feet, the Kazakhstan Airlines Ilyushin IL-76 at 15,000 feet.

Apparently, either because of pilot error or an equipment failure, the two planes found themselves at the same altitude.

Kazakh: Good evening. KZA 1907 passing through 230 [23,000 feet] for 180 [18,000 feet]. 74 miles from DPN [New Delhi].

Tower: Descend 150 [15,000 feet]. Report reaching.

Kazakh: One-five-zero [15,000 feet].

Saudi: Approaching 100 [10,000 feet].

Tower: Cleared 140 [14,000 feet].

Saudi: Approaching level 140 [14,000 feet] for higher. Await.

Tower: Maintain level 140 [14,000 feet]. Stand by for higher.

Tower: KZA 1907, report distance from DPN.

Kazakh: Reached 150 [15,000 feet]. 46 miles DPN. Radial 270.

Tower: Roger. Maintain 150 [15,000 feet]. Identified traffic 12 o’clock reciprocal Saudi Boeing 747 14 miles. Report when in sight.

Kazakh: Kazakh 1907. Repeat, how many miles?

Tower: 14 miles now.

Kazakh: Roger 1907.

A short time later, the tower advised the Kazakh crew that only 13 miles separated the two planes.

The Kazakh pilot responded: “1907.” And that was the final word from either aircraft.

“It was not a head-on collision,” Chandra said. “Probably, their wings touched each other. The cockpit and fuselage of the Kazakh airliner was found intact.”

An investigation into the crash began in the morning daylight Wednesday, even as some villagers complained of looting at the scene.

To find the flight recorders, police walked in formation, combing the six acres of debris that had been scattered in wooded farmland 60 miles west of India’s capital.

Prime Minister H. D. Deve Gowda was among those visiting the gruesome site, which once carried all the calm of a recently plowed mustard field. He shook his head in sadness as search crews tried to collect the last of the full corpses and severed limbs that were hidden amid the wreckage.

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The collision’s lone survivor died in the hospital soon after arrival. That raised the death toll to 351, though it was then lowered to 349 when officials from Kazakhstan Airlines revised their losses from 39 to 37.

About 300 bodies have been recovered, said police official Maninder Singh Mann. Burned and contorted, most will be hard to identify. The remains were placed under sheets in trailer beds. Ice protected them against the heat.

A Saudi newspaper said that the 747 bound for Dhahran and Jidda had 213 Indians among its passengers. There were also 13 Saudis, nine Nepalese and three Americans whose names have not been released.

The nationalities of the other victims were not known.

Kazakhstan Airlines uses Russian-made Ilyushins, and they are commonly flown by Russian crews. The pilots, air traffic controllers say, often have but a tenuous command of English. Many near-collisions occur because the tower’s flight instructions are misinterpreted.

Also, experts say that the Ilyushins do not carry equipment that indicates the altitude of nearby aircraft. Pilots use the metric system and must convert flight instructions from feet to meters, though this can be done simply with conversion charts.