Tehran has opened an investigation after the Pakistan Airlines Company announced that two of its planes nearly collided in Iranian airspace due to a mistake by traffic controllers, according to the French news agency, quoting the official media in Iran.
"Appropriate measures have been taken to receive documents from the (air) control center, and we have requested reports from the pilots of the two planes to conduct additional investigations," said Hassan Khoshkho, deputy head of the Iranian Civil Aviation Organization, according to state television.
"Of course, after receiving all the documents, the matter is reviewed by the Working Group on Air Navigation Accidents within the Bureau of Investigation of the Civil Aviation Organization, and the final result is announced," he added.
Pakistan International Airlines spokesman Abdullah Hafeez Khan told AFP on Tuesday that two of its commercial planes nearly collided last Sunday at a high altitude in Iranian airspace due to human error by air traffic controllers.
He explained that this happened when the Iranian air traffic control authorities allowed a Pakistan International Airlines plane bound for Peshawar to descend from an altitude of 36,000 feet to 20,000.
Another plane belonging to the same airline and bound for Dubai was below at an altitude of 35,000 feet, and the two planes came close to each other at a distance of 300 meters, according to the source.
"A collision avoidance system helped the two pilots correct their course and avoid the accident after the two planes came close to each other," he said, adding, "We will write to the Iranian authorities to investigate this accident, because it was not supposed" that Iranian controllers would allow the plane to Peshawar to land.
Khoshkho confirmed that the two planes were equipped with this system, which "gives the necessary warnings from a distance," noting that "similar accidents have previously occurred in other countries."
PIA was an important company until the 1970s, but years of financial loss and mismanagement have tarnished its reputation.
In 2016, a plane flying from the mountainous Chitral region (north) to the capital Islamabad crashed in a remote area, killing 47 people, and the investigation concluded that there was a maintenance error.
In 2020, a Pakistan International Airlines plane crashed in Karachi, killing 98 people.
Iranian official: The allegations are baseless
On the other hand, the Iranian News Agency stated in another report that a member of the Board of Directors of the Airports and Air Navigation Company in Iran, Hadi Yousef Buradhi, refuted the allegations of the Pakistani authorities that the National Air Navigation Control Company committed a mistake that nearly led to an accident for two Pakistani planes that were crossing Iranian airspace, stressing that Iran’s skies have become The safest place in the region for international air traffic thanks to the diligent efforts of air traffic controllers.
And a report by the Iranian agency stated that Pourazhi wrote a tweet on Twitter in which he responded "to the allegations of the Pakistani authorities who claimed that two Pakistani commercial planes nearly collided in Iranian airspace due to human error by Iranian air traffic controllers."
And she indicated that he wrote in a tweet to him on Twitter today, Wednesday, that "the strange report of the head of the Pakistan International Airlines regarding an accident that almost occurred between two Pakistani planes in the airspace of Iran violates the rules and regulations of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO)."
Burazari added: I assure the Iranian people that these allegations are baseless, and that Iran's skies have become the safest in the region for international air traffic, thanks to the efforts of diligent air traffic controllers.