NEW DELHI/VARANASI: Budget carrier SpiceJet has grounded its two pilots whose plane went beyond the holding point and had a runway incursion at Varanasi on Tuesday when an IndiGo plane was about to take off from the same air strip.Alert air traffic controllers (ATC) noticed the incursion and alerted the IndiGo aircraft in time which then safely aborted the take-off.Confirming this, a SpiceJet spokesperson said: “On Tuesday (June 12), SpiceJet Boeing 737 800 aircraft (VT-SGH) was scheduled to operate SG-705, sector Varanasi to Hyderabad. While taxing to the Varanasi runway, the aircraft inadvertently crossed the runway holding point. The ATC asked the pilot to hold position and later cleared it for take-off.”An IndiGo spokesperson said: “IndiGo aircraft (VT-IHS) operating as 6E 3175 from Varanasi to Mumbai rejected take off at a low speed as the aircraft of another carrier came on the runway. IndiGo cockpit crew had the ATC clearance for take-off. Following all the standard operating procedures, our cockpit crew complied with the ATC instructions. IndiGo has voluntarily reported the matter to the DGCA.”The IndiGo aircraft returned to the bay for checks after the low speed take off reject as per the company’s safety policy, said airport sources. The flight, which had 178 passengers and six crew members, finally took off with a delay of over 1.5 hours.Airport sources say the issue arose when 6E 3175 was on the runway preparing to take off. At that time, SpiceJet aircraft was asked to be on the holding point of the runway and it would have been asked to take off after IndiGo had done so. “However, the SpiceJet pilots by mistake crossed the holding point by about 10 metres and ATC immediately alerted IndiGo about the presence of this aircraft on the runway after which it aborted the take-off,” said an official.The matter has been reported to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) which will probe it now. In such cases, the crew at fault is asked to undergo corrective training so that they don’t repeat the same mistake.(with inputs from Rajeev Dikshit in Varanasi)

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