Emirates and Ethiopian Airlines narrowly avoids collision at Somaliland

Thursday, March 28, 2024

The Somaliland Civil Aviation and Airports Authority (SCAAA) reported that an Emirates Boeing 777 and an Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 MAX narrowly avoided collision while flying over Somaliland.

This occurred on March 24, about a month after two other aircraft nearly collided in the same airspace, adding to the growing concerns about safety and air traffic control competency in the region.

Flying at the same altitude

The latest incident involved Emirates Flight EK722 en route to Dubai and Ethiopian Airlines Flight ET690 en route to Bangalore.

According to the SCAAA, the two nearly collided at approximately 00:43 EAT (21:43 UTC) while flying at 37,000 ft.

They had reportedly received conflicting instructions from air traffic controllers in Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia.

the Emirates Triple Seven was flying from Nairobi Jomo Kenyatta (NBO) to Dubai International Airport (DXB). The airline operates up to two daily flights between the two cities.

On March 24, Flight EK722 departed Nairobi at 19:54 UTC and eventually landed safely in Dubai at 00:29 UTC.

On the other hand, the Ethiopian Airlines 737 MAX was flying from Addis Ababa Bole International Airport (ADD) to Bengaluru Kempegowda International (BLR). ET690 departed Addis at 20:36 UTC and landed safely in Bangalore at 01:55 UTC.

Ethiopian Airlines ascends to 39,000 ft

The SCAAA’s report suggests that both flights had been directed to converge at the same time and location. However, Somaliland air traffic controllers intervened and collaborated with the Ethiopian flight crew to avoid disaster.

The Ethiopian pilots eventually ascended to 39,000 ft and maintained safe separation.

This year, there have been several reports of flight crews receiving conflicting instructions while flying over the Horn of Africa.

This comes amid disputes between the two states as Somaliland claims independent management of its own airspace, despite being internationally unrecognized.

As explained by the International Air Transport Association (IATA), the airspace over Somalia and the surrounding ocean is managed by the Somali Civil Aviation Authority (SCAA) from the Mogadishu Area Control Center.

Both Ethiopian Airlines and Emirates were not available for comment at the time of publishing.

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