Near-miss in Oman caused by poor coordination: Investigation
A new investigation has revealed that a near-miss between an Air Arabia Airbus A320 and a Boeing B777F in May 2025 was mainly caused by poor coordination between air traffic controllers in Muscat and Mumbai.
The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) found that both planes got dangerously close without any warning from Mumbai's control center.
Controllers were juggling too many roles during the incident
Turns out, the flight plan for the Boeing 777 may have been missing from the system, and the Muscat controller was juggling too many roles—including training someone—so couldn't clear one plane to climb.
Meanwhile, Mumbai's controller was tied up with calls and had no backup, which slowed down their response.
Recommendations for preventing similar incidents in the future
To help prevent this kind of scare in the future, AAIB has recommended better backup systems for communications, making sure there's enough staff during busy times, and keeping trainers focused on one job at a time.
It's a reminder that even small gaps in teamwork can have big consequences in the sky.