An Uzbekistan Airways passenger jet and a private business aircraft came dangerously close to colliding in Russian airspace near Serpukhov, south of Moscow, due to a radio miscommunication, according to reports from the Telegram channel Aviatorshina.
The incident occurred shortly after midnight on September 29, as both planes were descending toward Moscow’s Vnukovo Airport. The aircraft involved were an Embraer Legacy 650 business jet flying from Bodrum (registration RA-02753) and an Uzbekistan Airways Airbus A320 inbound from Samarkand (registration UK-32018).
According to Aviatorshina, the Embraer was cruising at 9,000 feet when air traffic controllers instructed the Airbus to descend to 10,000 feet. However, the A320 crew mistakenly read back the clearance as 9,000 feet and the error went unnoticed by both of the controllers on duty, despite overseeing only six aircraft at the time.
As a result, the Uzbekistan Airways jet descended below its assigned altitude, breaching minimum separation standards. The two aircraft reportedly passed each other with a horizontal gap of about three kilometers, less than the required five and a vertical distance of only 700 feet instead of the mandated 1,000 feet.
Although the ground-based conflict alert system was triggered, there were no reports that the onboard Traffic Collision Avoidance System (TCAS) was activated. Both aircraft landed safely without further incident.
Russia’s Federal Air Transport Agency (Rosaviatsiya) has classified the occurrence as an aviation incident and launched an investigation. The event marks the eighth reported safety-related incident in Moscow’s airspace this year, with two occurring in the past week alone, including another near-collision at Sheremetyevo Airport.
In response, the State Corporation for Air Traffic Management (GK ORVD) has demoted the entire management team of the Moscow Air Traffic Control Center for the month of September. Officials have warned that continued lapses in safety performance could lead to a complete overhaul of the branch’s leadership.
