RiskEvents
ClosedLow impactAI Generated

Air India A319 Near Miss with Indian Navy Dhruv Helicopter over Port Blair (Feb 2024)

Occurred 2 Feb 2024·Detected 21 May 2026·
🇮🇳 Port Blair Airport, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, India1 reportEnded 29 May 2026
AviationAviation

An Air India Airbus A319 (VT-SCV) on service AIC788 from Port Blair to Kolkata had a serious airprox incident with an Indian Navy HAL Dhruv Mk III helicopter on 2 February 2024. The A319 crew visually spotted the helicopter and executed an emergency nose-down manoeuvre, descending at up to 2,800ft/min and potentially passing within 100ft of the helicopter. India's AAIB attributed the probable cause to inadequate traffic assessment by the approach controller, with contributing factors including TCAS degradation on the A319 and primary radar loss of the helicopter. No injuries were reported and the A319 continued its flight to Kolkata.

AI-generated from linked source reports. See our correction policy.

Impact verdict

Low impact. No injuries occurred and neither aircraft sustained reported physical damage; however, the serious classification and TCAS/radar failures may generate regulatory and liability scrutiny for Air India and navy ATC. Insured loss potential is low given the absence of damage or casualties.

View assessment methodology

How we grade what we know -- Known · Reported · Uncertain. Methodology →

Intelligence ledger

Each line expands in place to its underlying sourced claim.

Known9 lines

Incident occurred at approximately 08:00 local time on 2 February 2024 near Port Blair▾
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Air India A319 registration VT-SCV was operating service AIC788 to Kolkata▾
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Indian Navy HAL Dhruv Mk III helicopter was on a training ILS practice approach to runway 04▾
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The A319 pilot disconnected autopilot and initiated a nose-down manoeuvre reaching ~2,800ft/min rate of descent▾
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An overspeed warning was triggered as flaps were still extended during the evasive manoeuvre▾
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India's AAIB classified the incident as 'serious'▾
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No injuries were reported and the A319 continued its flight uneventfully▾
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AAIB probable cause: inadequate traffic assessment by the approach controller▾
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Airport primary radar lost track of the helicopter during its outbound leg▾
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Reported3 lines

The A319 may have passed within approximately 100ft of the helicopter, based on the pilot's radio transmission▾
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The A319's TCAS was degraded due to an unserviceable navigation system, dispatched under the minimum equipment list▾
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The helicopter received a TCAS advisory and turned right; the A319 crew did not receive a TCAS notification but spotted the helicopter visually▾
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Uncertain4 lines

The AAIB report does not explicitly state that the unserviceable navigation system caused the TCAS degradation▾
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No separate sourced-claim record is available for this line yet.
The exact minimum separation between the two aircraft is not stated in the AAIB report▾
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The number of passengers and crew aboard either aircraft is not disclosed in the report▾
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Whether the TCAS failure was a direct causal factor remains unresolved in the investigation▾
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Affected countries

🇮🇳 India

Timeline

Status Change2 Jun 2026, 13:05

Lifecycle changed

monitoring → closed

Closure2 Jun 2026, 13:05

Event Closed

auto_closed_monitoring_timeout

Status Change29 May 2026, 05:30

Status changed to monitoring

Auto-transitioned: no updates for 6 hours

active → monitoring

Status Change28 May 2026, 22:36

Status changed to active

remediation: existing authoritative signal

signal → active

Initial Detection21 May 2026, 08:54

Initial Detection

An Air India Airbus A319 (VT-SCV) on service AIC788 from Port Blair to Kolkata had a serious airprox incident with an Indian Navy HAL Dhruv Mk III helicopter on 2 February 2024. The A319 crew visually spotted the helicopter and executed an emergency nose-down manoeuvre, descending at up to 2,800ft/min and potentially passing within 100ft of the helicopter. India's AAIB attributed the probable cause to inadequate traffic assessment by the approach controller, with contributing factors including TCAS degradation on the A319 and primary radar loss of the helicopter. No injuries were reported and the A319 continued its flight to Kolkata.

"Sir, we were so close to the traffic you would see the traffic, you know it was bad controlling I am saying that we got a TCAS and we were visually in turning right, we were 100 feet below him." The probable cause was inadequate assessment of the traffic situation by the approach controller which resulted in reduced separation and close proximity between the departing aircraft and the overflying helicopter.

Source: FlightGlobal (Trade Media) · View source

Lloyd's classifications

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