New Delhi: An Indian Air Force plane carrying Sonia Gandhi and other VIPs on board came dangerously close to a Virgin Atlantic aircraft on September 10, when the Congress president and UPA chairperson was on her way to Kashmir. The Virgin flight from London was on its way to Delhi.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has launched a high-level probe to track down possible communication lapses that may have led to a dangerous situation when Gandhi, home minister Shivraj Patil and others were airborne.

Air traffic controllers (ATCs) detected the two planes just six nautical miles apart, and ordered the Virgin aircraft away from the VIP aircraft. The guidelines stipulate that there must be a gap of at least 10 miles separating two aircraft in flight.

Aviation ministry sources told DNA that the incident took place immediately after the IAF Boeing took off from the Palam Technical Area of theIndira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi around 11 am on September 10. The aircraft was over Punjab when the incident took place.

“Virgin Atlantic’s Delhi-bound flight came too close to the IAF aircraft, which was 100 nautical miles away from Delhi airspace and flying over Halwara near Ludhiana city,” said a senior aviation ministry official.

At the Delhi control tower, ATCs were shocked to discover the presence of the Virgin aircraft so close to Gandhi’s. “The controllers spotted the Virgin flight and immediately instructed the pilot to vacate the flight path,” the official said.

Confidential records recovered by the DGCA showed that the air separation between the IAF aircraft and the Virgin Atlantic flight was six nautical miles.

If the two aircraft had continued in the same trajectory, it would have proved “tricky”, airport sources said. The DGCA has tagged the incident as a “reportable air miss”.

The outcome of the investigations will largely depend on the recorded conversations between the ATCs and the pilots. An analysis of the records will help pinpoint the flaws and also what went wrong on that day.

“Once the investigation gets over, then strict action will be taken against whoever is responsible, whether it was the pilots or someone else,” DGCA sources said.