SriLankan Airlines has issued a clarification on news reports circulating on media about flight UL 504 avoiding a possible mid-air collision with another aircraft.
Issuing a statement, SriLankan Airlines confirmed that its pilots operating UL 504, which departed from London to Colombo on Monday (13), were able to safely commandeer the flight without an incident.
Contrary to news reports, SriLankan Airlines said it confirms that UL 504 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 onboard the aircraft enabled safe passage for UL 504. Further, SriLankan Airlines commends the timely action of the pilots operating UL 504, which ensured the safety of all passengers, crew, and equipment onboard UL 504,” the airline added.
The clarification comes after the Daily Mirror had reported that UL 504, flying from London to Colombo, had avoided its biggest possible mid-air collision while in Turkish airspace.
Citing sources, the report said the flight carrying 275 passengers on board and a crew, had entered the Turkish Airspace of Ankara after leaving Heathrow en route to Colombo.
The Ankara air control had thereafter informed the UL pilot to climb to 35,000 feet from the 33,000 feet they were flying at.
However, the UL pilot and crew had already detected a British Airways flight just 15 miles away from them flying at 35,000 feet and had informed the air traffic control at Ankara.
After checking, the Ankara air traffic control had informed the UL Captain that they had not detected any flight at 35,000 feet on their radar and the UL flight was cleared to climb.
However, the UL pilot had refused to do so despite being cleared twice by the Ankara air traffic control to climb due to having detected the British Airways flight on the flight’s radar.
Minutes later the air traffic had responded urgently informing the UL flight not to climb as there was already a flight right above at 35,000 feet.
It was later found that the British Airways flight which was on its way to Dubai and then Singapore had left Heathrow just shortly after the UL flight had taken off.
The UL flight had safely landed at the BIA last afternoon after avoiding a near-miss mid-air collision with the British Airways flight, which was reportedly flying at a faster speed than the UL flight.
The Chief pilots of UL 504 were commended for their vigilance and strong decision-making which had saved the lives of the passengers and crew members of both flights. (NewsWire)