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A dramatic in-flight incident over Russian airspace last month had two Chinese planes narrowly avoid a collision after an Air China commercial plane had allegedly made an unauthorized ascent.
A report released by the South China Morning Post says Air China Flight CA967, flying from Shanghai to Milan on 6 July, sharply climbed from 34,100 feet to 36,000 feet without being granted clearance from Russian air traffic control. The surprise move brought the plane within mere 300 to 400 feet (90–120 meters) of SF Airlines Flight CSS128, a Boeing 767 cargo plane en-route from Budapest to Ezhou, China. Aviation safety regulations mandate at least a 1,000-foot vertical distance between planes at cruising altitudes.
The close call happened in the skies over Tuva, a remote Siberian mountain area close to the Mongolian border. The close call activated the Traffic Collision Avoidance System (TCAS) warnings on both aircraft, leading to emergency maneuvers. Data from flight tracking services Flightradar24 verified the close call.
Audio recordings surfacing on Chinese social media over the weekend seem to show the exchange between the Russian controller and the Air China crew. In English, the controller asked, “Are you climbing with instruction or without instruction? Confirm, please,” to which the Air China pilot responded, “No. Thank you.” The recordings’ origin and authenticity are not verified.
Aviation24.be quoted that misdirection or miscommunication could have prompted the change in altitude by the Air China crew. Interfering transmissions apparently made the pilot’s entire reply indistinct.
Later, during a Mandarin conversation on an exclusive frequency, the SF Airlines captain labeled the climb “very inappropriate,” while the Air China pilot attributed a mistake with the controller, admitting that they would need to file an official report.
Thus far, neither Air China, SF Airlines, nor China’s civil aviation administration has issued a public statement on the accident.
