In a statement it released on Wednesday, the airlines admitted that a plane belonging to Qatar Airways was on Saturday flying in proximity with Ethiopian Airlines flight 602 in airspace over Somalia.
However, it rejected claims in reports that there was a close shave between the two planes.
The airline said it had communicated with the Somaliland aviation authorities to avoid such proximity in the future.
Information on social media claimed a mid-air collision was barely avoided over the skies of Somalia following a miscommunication from Air Traffic Control (ATC) on February 24.
This incident involved a Qatar Airways Boeing 787-8 and an Ethiopian Airlines Airbus A350-900, the report claimed.
The Qatar Airways Boeing 787-8 was cruising over the Gulf of Aden en route from Doha (DOH) to Entebbe, Uganda (EBB).
The flight was QR 1383, with the plane having registration A7-BCN.
Flying in the opposite direction around the same time was an Ethiopian Airlines Airbus A350-900 from Addis Ababa (ADD) to Dubai (DXB).
Ethiopian Airlines was operating flight ET 602, with the aircraft having registration ET-ATY.
QR 1383 was cruising at 38,000 feet (11,582 meters).
As it entered Somali airspace, controllers in Mogadishu instructed the flight to climb to 40,000 feet (12,192 meters).
Reports suggest that this instruction was made around 12:32 p.m. local time.
By then, the Ethiopian Airlines A350 plane was cruising at 39,000 feet (11,887 meters) in the opposite direction.
Following the controllers’ instructions, QR 1383 began climbing to 40,000 feet (12,192 meters), or Flight Level 400.
This maneuver put the aircraft on a collision course right in the path of ET 602, said one report.
Thankfully, all modern aircraft have a Traffic Collision Avoidance System (TCAS) which notifies the pilots if their aircraft was flying dangerously close to another plane and if a collision was imminent.
Thanks to TCAS issuing an urgent warning on both aircraft, the pilots could take immediate corrective action, thus preventing a devastating mid-air collision.
MG/as/APA
