Mumbai was lucky this week. But luck is not a safety system. Yesterday’s story published in the Tailwind Times about the monsoon is being widely read. It talked about the resilience of Indian aviation during monsoon every year, and this story is yet another real-world test that has further deepened that evolving story deck.
As per the preliminary reports, on the night of 7 July 2026, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport was already on the brink. Monsoon thunderheads were parked over the city, sheets of rain were hammering the runway, visibility was fluctuating between poor and worse, and a long line of delayed departures and weather‑diverted arrivals. In that chaos, the active runway, very nearly hosted two Air India jets, nose‑to‑nose.
An Air India Express flight from Siliguri had just landed, rolling out on the drenched runway and beginning to vacate via the high‑speed exit. At the same time, Delhi‑bound Air India AI816 was cleared to begin its takeoff run on the same strip. On a dry, clear‑sky day that clearance would already be questionable. In heavy monsoon rain, with braking action reduced, spray obscuring visual cues and controllers juggling a disrupted arrival‑departure sequence, it adds severity.
Tailwind Times has been tracking runway‑safety events at Mumbai, and this is not the first time. There are many incidents that go unreported, but one reported incident is worth highlighting. On 8 June 2024, an IndiGo A320neo landed on the same runway just behind an Air India A320neo that was already on the runway and in the process of taking off for Thiruvananthapuram, effectively simultaneous operations on the same piece of concrete. Reportedly, the DGCA classified it as a runway incursion, derostered the involved ATC officer and launched an investigation.
What happened next is being dressed up in official language as 'timely intervention.' In reality, it was an emergency correction. As the departing Air India accelerated into the murk, the tower finally registered that the arrival was still on the runway and ordered an immediate rejected takeoff. The Pilot complied hauling a heavy rain‑slicked aircraft back to a stop while the Air India Express continued to clear ahead. This was something that most of the aviation pilots had traditionally been trained to perform.
This near miss did not occur in a vacuum. In the middle of India’s most punishing flying season-crosswinds, standing water, lightning, diversions, cancellations, holding stacks. Mumbai’s tower is being pushed to maintain throughput at all costs. Flights are delayed, crew duty limits are ticking down, passengers are stranded, and the instinctive response of any congested hub is to squeeze more movements into every usable minute. That instinct, unchecked, turns a runway into a gamble.
The monsoon is not an excuse. It is an added risk factor that should trigger extra conservatism. In marginal visibility, controllers cannot rely on rain‑streaked windows to confirm a clear runway, and in poor braking conditions high‑speed rejected takeoffs carry their own hazards, from overruns and excursions to tyre and engine damage. Allowing a departure roll before the arriving aircraft had fully vacated, in this environment, combined bad weather and operational stress may turn into a potentially serious runway conflict. In this case, an ATC instruction to abort and an alert Air India pilot’s prompt rejected‑takeoff response prevented the incident from becoming a potential mishap.
(Tailwind Times is an Aviation Daily powered by professionals-veteran commanders, engineers, flight safety specialists and ground professionals and experts from civil, defence and general aviation with decades of experience)