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| Date: | Monday 30 April 2018 |
| Time: | 05:31 UTC |
| Type: |  Airbus A320-213 (WL) |
| Owner/operator: | AirBlue, lsf VietJetAir |
| Registration: | VN-A650 |
| MSN: | 6457 |
| Year of manufacture: | 2015 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: |
| Other fatalities: | 0 |
| Aircraft damage: | None |
| Category: | Incident |
| Location: | 30NM West of FATEH -
 Pakistan
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Passenger - Scheduled |
| Departure airport: | Dubai Airport (DXB/OMDB) |
| Islamabad International Airport (ISB/OPIS) | |
| Investigating agency: | AAIB Pakistan |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
Air Blue Flight ABQ201, an Airbus A320 (VN-A650) was involved in a serious airprox incident with Pakistan Air Force fighters.
Flight ABQ 211 contacted Cherat Approach at position HANGU and was given descent intructions to FL150.
Subsequently, when ABQ 211 was 40 Nautical Miles (NM) west of position FATEH passing FL180, it was re-cleared to FL160 by Cherat Approach. Once ABQ 211 was 30NM West of position FATEH, it reported a Traffic Collision Avoidance System (TCAS) – Resolution Advisory (RA) due military traffic, a formation two fighters from Pakistan Air Force (PAF) Base Minhas to Pindi Gheb, crossing Air Traffic Services (ATS) route J-139 from North to South at FL140. Mode C of aircraft no. 2 of the formation showed a climb up to FL148 which triggered TCAS – RA of ABQ 211. At that time ABQ211 was in descending phase out of FL166 for FL160 but initiated RA climb to FL173. At the time of incident, minimum vertical separation of 1,800 feet existed between the two aircraft.
Cause
Activation of TCAS – RA (MAC – Mid Air Collision) due to non-adherence of flight level restrictions by Military aircraft.
Contributory Factors
1. Violation of ATC Clearance by Military Traffic.
2. Unintentional climb of No 2 Fighter in Formation
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
AAIB Pakistan
History of this aircraft
Other occurrences involving this aircraft
| 30 September 2015 | VN-A650 | Vietjet Air | 0 | Hanoi-Noi Bai Airport (HAN) |  |
min |
| Bird strike | ||||||
| 29 November 2018 | VN-A650 | AirBlue, lsf VietJetAir | 0 | near Rahim Yar Khan | |
non |
| Near miss | ||||||
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 28-Sep-2025 11:13 | ASN | Added |
Corrections or additions? ... Edit this accident description
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