Sushma Swaraj aircraft loses contact for 14 minutes

New Delhi: A major aviation safety scare took place on Saturday evening when the special Indian Air Force (IAF) flight that had external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj on board went incommunicado for 14 minutes before the Mauritius ATC pressed the panic button and activated the “INCERFA (uncertainty phase)”. This meant the Mauritius ATC was not sure about the location of the plane and is a stage wherein search and rescue efforts are activated and nearby planes in the area are asked to try to contact the concerned aircraft. Fortunately, after a gap of 14 minutes, the IAF aircraft established contact with the Mauritius ATC much to the relief of everyone. Usually, the ATC waits for a gap of 30 minutes of loss of communication before activating the INCERFA but the Mauritius ATC apparently decided not to take any chances since a VIP was on board. Ms Swaraj was en route to Mauritius at the time on her way to South Africa on a five-day official visit. The IAF Embraer aircraft apparently was to be refuelled at Mauritius and Ms. Swaraj made a “transit halt” there.

It is unclear why the aircraft went incommunicado for 14 minutes. One possibility could be that the pilot tried to contact the Mauritius ATC through the VHF radio frequency which has a limited range. The aircraft was flying over vast stretches of the Indian Ocean where there is no radar coverage. In a statement on Sunday evening, the state-run Airports Authority of India (AAI)—under whose aegis the Indian Air Traffic Control (ATC) functions—said, “Indian Air Force Flight IFC31 carrying External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj departed from Trivandrum at 1408 IST (2.08 pm Saturday) for Mauritius. Aircraft changed over from Indian airspace to Male (Maldives) ATC which then established contact with the aircraft at 1644 IST (4.44 pm Saturday). However, IFC31 could not contact Mauritius ATC after entering Mauritius airspace. Mauritius ATC then activated INCERFA (uncertainty phase) . Later at 1658 IST (4.58 pm Saturday), IFC31 came in contact with Mauritius ATC and landed. Mauritius ATC activated INCERFA (uncertainty phase) without allowing the stipulated time of 30 minutes to lapse from the time when aircraft last contacted ATC.

This was perhaps done because the flight was carrying a VIP.