Ariana Afghan A310 Lands on Wrong Runway at Delhi Amid ILS Failure

An Ariana Afghan Airlines Airbus A310-300 (registration YA-FGF) operating flight FG-311 from Kabul to Delhi mistakenly landed on the wrong runway at Indira Gandhi International Airport on November 23, 2025. The aircraft had been cleared to land on Runway 29L and the crew correctly read back the clearance, but the jet instead touched down on parallel Runway 29R, which was being used exclusively for departures at the time.

According to India’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), the Ariana crew reported that they lost the Instrument Landing System (ILS) signal approximately 4 nautical miles from touchdown while flying in poor visibility. The aircraft subsequently drifted right of its intended path, and the pilots executed a visual approach onto the runway they saw ahead—Runway 29R. The crew claimed that air traffic control did not alert them to the deviation during the final approach.

A senior DGCA official confirmed that the incident occurred just as an Air India aircraft, flight AI-2243 to Riyadh, had taken off from Runway 29R. Arrivals before and after FG-311 landed normally on Runway 29L, raising questions about whether the issue was isolated to the Ariana aircraft or related to a technical malfunction on board.

The DGCA has opened a full investigation into the serious incident. Regulators are examining the crew’s account, including claims of an ILS failure and the assertion that ATC did not warn the pilots that they were lining up with the incorrect runway. It remains unclear whether the aircraft’s ILS equipment malfunctioned or whether there was a procedural lapse during the approach.

The ILS provides lateral and vertical guidance for precision runway approaches, particularly important in low-visibility conditions. Without it, pilots may rely on visual references or non-precision approaches, which can increase the risk of alignment errors—especially at airports with closely spaced parallel runways like Delhi.

In the pilot’s statement to investigators, the captain acknowledged the crew only realized the mistake after landing and vacating the runway. “Tower informed us that we had touched down on Runway 29R instead of Runway 29L. The runway deviation occurred as a result of the ILS system failure and the associated loss of lateral guidance in visibility,” the captain said, according to DGCA sources.

After slowing safely, the aircraft vacated Runway 29R and taxied to the apron without further incident. No injuries or aircraft damage were reported. The DGCA’s probe will focus on the aircraft’s navigation systems, ATC communication logs, and the crew’s decision-making process to determine how the aircraft ended up on the wrong runway during active operations. 

Sources: AirGuide Business airguide.info, bing.com, indianexpress.com