Toronto– Ethiopian Airlines plane reportedly avoided another near-collision incident with an Emirates plane over Somalia Airspace last Sunday. ETH 690 and UAE722 were both flying at 37,000 feet.
In an incident report released on Tuesday, Somaliland Civil Aviation and Airports Authority said “On the night of Sunday, March 24, 2024, around 12:43 in East Africa, an Emirates Airways flight UAE722 flying at an altitude of 37,000ft, and an Ethiopian Airlines flight ETH690 at an altitude of 37,000ft almost collided. after Mogadishu Control gave these two planes the same time and place where they were meeting.”
From the report, the Somaliland Air Traffic Controller’s intervention seems to have helped avoid the collision based on the report.
“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 39000ft,” said Somaliland Civil Aviation and Airports Authority.
According to the statement, the problem was caused by traffic controllers in Somalia. It blamed air traffic controllers in Mogadishu, Somalia, for “regularly ” making “mistakes like these.” There were reports sometime last month that a similar incident was about to happen over Somalian airspace. Emirates and Ethiopian Airlines planes were involved in the incident. However, Ethiopian Airlines did not confirm it.
Furthermore, the statement said such mistakes “are a threat to the safety of international flights.”
“We share with international agencies and the whole world that the stubbornness and lack of knowledge seen in the Mogadishu Tower is a threat to the safety of the air,” Somaliland Civil Aviation and Airports Authority cautioned.
As of now, the government of Somalia has not responded to allegations from Somaliland about the air traffic incident.
Ethiopian Airlines has not remarked about the latest incident. Borkena attempted to reach out by phone but it was not a success. An email is sent out to Ethiopian Airlines Corporate communication. Will update you if the airline remarks on it.
Tension developed between Somaliland and Ethiopia on the one hand, and the government of Somalia on the other after the former signed a memorandum of understanding on January 1, 2024. The agreement was meant to give Ethiopia 20 kilometers of coastal land for maritime and military purposes on a fifty-year lease in exchange for a share from Ethiopian Airlines. Recognition of independent statehood was also part of the commitment on the part of Ethiopia, according to Somaliland sources.
Source: Borkena
