Mogadishu (GO) – Ethiopian Airlines reportedly avoided a midair collision with legendary Fly Emirates on Somalia airspace, some reports indicate, in what could have been a devastating air crash in as many years, according to aviation experts.
Somalia airspace has been undergoing major changes, including ongoing tussles between Mogadishu and Hargeisa. Somaliland, a state in Somalia had sort direct control of its airspace, leading to tight regulations from Mogadishu.
The Somaliland’s regional aviation authority claimed the Emirates Flight and that of Ethiopia almost collided on March 24th over Somalia’s airspace, but the reports are yet to be confirmed by Abu Dhabi and Addis Ababa, or Mogadishu, which was the host airspace.
A statementreleased by the regional aviation authority claimed that the accident almost happened around 12:43am East Africa Time. The Emirates flight UAE722 and Ethiopian Airlines flight ETH690 were assigned the same altitude of 37,000 feet by air traffic controllers in Mogadishu.
“A few minutes before the collision, the efforts made by the Somaliland Air Traffic Controllers and the pilot of the Ethiopian Airlines caused the pilot to quickly change his altitude and climb to 39,000 feet,” the statement said.
Somaliland criticized the air traffic controllers in Mogadishu, stating ‘the Mogadishu Controllers regularly make mistakes like these, which are a threat to the safety of international flights’. Somalia had taken firm control over her airspace after Ethiopia started courting Somaliland for a state in the Red Sea.
Further, the statement read: “The stubbornness and lack of knowledge seen in the Mogadishu Tower is a threat to the safety of the air.” Ethiopia had signed an MoU with Somaliland in which it would take 20 kilometers of the Red Sea in return for Somaliland’s recognition as a sovereign state.
Last month, the regional aviation authority also claimed that a Qatar Airways Boeing 787 and an Ethiopian Airlines A350 were also said to have narrowly avoided a collision after being provided conflicting altitude instructions, according to the Somaliland authority.
It is not yet clear whether the incidents took place or Somaliland wants to create fiction to undermine the competence of aviation authority in Somalia who are recognised worldwide. Ethiopia is under pressure to renounce the MoU with Somaliland.
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