A near-collision between an Indian Airlines aircraft and Jet Airways flight over Tiruchirappalli air space was averted on Saturday by timely alertness of pilots of both the planes, together carrying 242 people, airport sources said.

The Jet Airways flight was coming Chennai from Thiruvanathapuram and the IA flight was bound for Madurai from Chennai, around 1.14 pm, they said.

On nearing Tiruchirappalli airspace, both the planes almost came close but the IA pilot reduced the altitude and brought the aircraft down while the Jet Airways pilot gained altitude to increase the gap between them, the sources said.      

The passengers were safe and the planes landed on time at Chennai and Madurai airports respectively, they added.      

A major disaster was averted at Mumbai airport on June 4 when the Air Traffic Control (ATC) asked a Kingfisher flight to do a go-around as it was about to land after a SpiceJet plane got stuck on the runway.

On May 27, a mishap was averted at the Mumbai airport as a Jet Airways plane was asked to abort landing at the last minute after an IndiGo aircraft entered the runway.