Indian Dreamliner close to crash with Phl plane

NEW DELHI (Xinhua) - "Incorrect" input by Pakistan' s air traffic control to a Mumbai-bound Air India Dreamliner plane from London made it almost crash with a Philippine passenger plane, said local media Wednesday.

The Mumbai-bound Air India flight AI-130 from London's Heathrow Airport Tuesday escaped a near-miss incident after the Karachi Air Traffic Control gave pilot a wrong frequency that could have changed the flight path of the Boeing 787 and brought it close to Cebu Pacific from Dubai, said Press Trust of India.

"It is a very serious incident and we do not have any precedent of such an incident," Airports Authority of India chairman Alok Sinha told reporters.

"We are still deliberating (decide) as to what level should the issue be taken up - at the  diplomatic level or at some other forum," Sinha said. "We will ensure that such an incident does not occur again."

The Karachi air traffic control also gave its Mumbai counterpart an incorrect expected arrival time when the Air India aircraft was flying over Sapna and Nobat, thereby reducing the time gap between it and the Cebu plane, said the report.

Officials did not say how many passengers were on board the aircraft.