Near misses have become a frequent occurrence. Neither aircraft was fitted with automatic airborne advisory systems that would have warned pilots they were on a collision course. The Saudi Boeing was an older model which did not have the device, and the Russian-made Ilyushin was not equipped with them. And for the systems to work, the planes would have had to be fitted with compatible models. In the United States, all aircraft are required to be so outfitted, and the same rules will be in force in Europe by 2000.
Indian airports handle more than a thousand aircraft a day.
However, the judicial investigation will reveal the real reason. Ibrahim is Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda's most trusted lieutenant and the government's chief spokesman on important issues. New Delhi has been pulling out all stops to show that there were no lapses on the part of any department coming under Ibrahim. The real cause of the disaster is unlikely to be known until the ill-fated planes' flight recorders are found and examined. All Rights Reserved.