Official report on UL504 filed, report confirms possible collision avoided

• Despite the Daily Mirror having the official document, calls to the media officers of Sri Lankan Airlines on Tuesday night went unanswered
• In the crew’s own words, “Due to the vigilance and the action taken by the crew on UL504, managed to avert one of the worst mid-air collisions”
• UL504 crew observed an ATC conversation between BA AIR and Ankara Control regarding a possible intermittent transponder failure on BA AIR

By JAMILA HUSAIN  

An official report on the possible mid-air collision avoided by UL 504 has been filed by the crew upon their return to the BIA on Tuesday which has confirmed that due to the vigilance and action taken by the crew, they had managed to avert one of the worst possible mid-air collisions.  

 The Daily Mirror yesterday exclusively reported that UL504 from London to Colombo avoided a possible mid-air collision in Turkish airspace on Tuesday as a British Airways flight which was just 15 miles away flying at 35,000 feet had not been detected by the Ankara Air Traffic Control. The UL flight was flying at 33,000 feet.  
Despite the Ankara Air Traffic Control requesting UL 504 to climb the flight to 35,000 feet, the pilot had refused, detecting the British Airways flight in close vicinity above.  

As a result of the vigilance of the pilot, a disaster was averted. 275 passengers were on board the UL504 and an official report on the incident was filed by the crew upon their safe return to Colombo.  
Sri Lankan Airlines however seem to be unaware of this report filed by its own crew and released a statement yesterday saying UL 504 was not at risk of a mid-air collision with another aircraft at any point, despite their official document confirming it.  

Sri Lankan Airlines clearly seems to be misleading the public at this point or simply are unaware of the official mandatory documents filed by their own staff.  Despite the Daily Mirror having the official document in its possession, telephone calls to the media officers of Sri Lankan Airlines on Tuesday night went unanswered.   
The official report clearly mentions that there was a British Airways flight above at 35,000 feet in the Turkish Airspace and the UL504 crew observed an ATC conversation between BA AIR and Ankara Control regarding a possible intermittent transponder failure on BA AIR.  

In the crew’s own words, “Due to the vigilance and the action taken by the crew on UL504, managed to avert one of the worst mid-air collisions.”  

The British Airways flight which was on its way to Dubai and then Singapore had left Heathrow just shortly after the UL flight had taken off.  

If the UL captain had climbed to the requested height, the UL flight would have faced a mid-air collision with the British Airways flight, as it was flying at a faster speed than the UL flight. Upon landing at the BIA the passengers safely disembarked from the flight along with the crew and a report on the incident was filed.  

• Despite the Ankara Air Traffic Control requesting UL 504 to climb the flight to 35,000 feet, the pilot had refused