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It was yet another ‘ near miss’ in a long list of near misses on Wednesday evening. A Jet Airways flight was cleared to land at the Mumbai airport while an Indigo flight ready to take off was on the designated runway.

A possible mishap was averted when the Jet Airways flight 9W 616 from Kolkata to Mumbai was asked to abort landing after an Indigo flight 6E415 was spotted on the runway.

The incident coming within a fortnight of the Mangalore aircrash had the Directorate General of Civil Aviation ( DGCA) moving in quickly to claim that it was not a near miss but a “ runway incursion”. However, the DGCA has ordered an inquiry into the incident.

The Jet flight was initially cleared to land on runway 27 at the Mumbai international airport at 9 pm while the Indigo flight was already on the runway to take off for Bangalore.

The descending Jet flight was at 700 feet from the runway when the ATC alerted its pilot to abort landing and take a go around.

The Indigo aircraft preparing to take off for Bangalore was directed by the ATC to take the runway 27, but sources said instead of being at the end of the runway it went beyond. “ The confusion was created because the taxiway light was not functioning,” Indigo sources said.

The CEO of Indigo Airlines, Aditya Ghosh, said: “ The flight stopped short of runway 27. A correct picture would emerge when we go through the cockpit voice recorder.” “ Jet Airways flight while on approach to landing was asked by the Mumbai ATC to go around due to a runway incursion by another operator's aircraft. It is a normal practice in such cases. The incident is being investigated by authorities concerned,” said a Jet Airways official.

But the blamegame between the parties concerned has already begun with the Mumbai ATC claiming the Indigo flight, which was going to the taxiway, entered in to the runway as the taxiway lights were not functioning properly.

The Mumbai International Airport Private Ltd ( MIAL), which manages the airport and the facilities such as the runway and the taxiway lights, blamed the Mumbai ATC and the Indigo pilot.

“ The taxiway lights were functioning intermittently because of a circuit problem. The ATC was informed about the lights malfunction.

We had also allocated ‘ follow me vehicle escorts’ which lead the plane in such a situation to show the taxiway. In fact, two other aircraft had used the same facility just before the Indigo flight,” MIAL spokesperson Manish Kalhatgi said.

The spokesperson put the ball in the ATC’s court and also pointed fingures at the Indigo aircraft pilot.

“ It is the ATC’s job to tell the aircraft about the follow- me procedure as we had already informed the ATC. Whether the ATC did not tell the Indigo pilot or whether the pilot in spite of being told did not use the procedure, we don’t know,” Kalhatgi added.