That all changed following an almost collision of two aircraft over the Russian sky on July 6, 2025. An Air China Airbus A350 and an SF Airlines Boeing 767 came within a half-mile of each other over Siberia following a succession of misunderstandings between the flight crews and Russian air traffic controllers. The accident, which occurred in an area close to the border with Mongolia, raises serious questions about aviation safety and air traffic control. Both avions with TCAS II, the evasive action manoeuvres saved disaster on this account.
For both, it would be just another day at the office — until suddenly, for some reason, the altitude dropped suddenly. Air China flight CA967, an Airbus A350-900 was enroute at 34,100 feet over Ukraine, was manoeuvred in a way not to be expected by a computer but by a human went back to 36,000 feet. This was an altitude shift that took place without the permission of Russian air traffic controllers and it couldn’t have come at a worse moment.
Meanwhile, SF Airlines flight O3128, a Boeing 767-300ER, had been flying at 35,000 feet, en route from Budapest to Ezhou Huahu Airport in China. The two live traffic patterns ended up in the same sky — flying virtually head-on 300 to 400 feet away from each other, in aviation terms a perilously close shave.
This violation of minimum 1,000-ft. vert ansseparation resulted in TCAS alarms on both aircraft, and the flight crews reacted to the TCAS alerts. The situation was resolved without a collision, but the near miss rattled nerves about the safety of air traffic management in the region.
The miscommunication, as evident in recordings of the air traffic control conversation, seems to have led to the near miss – Russian air traffic controllers were also reportedly guiding four Chinese aircraft including Air China flight CA861, Hainan Airlines flight HU7937, and two others that were operating in the same area at the time.
This is because there seems to have been an erroneous misinterpretation of the altitude instruction issued to the Hainan Airlines flight submitted from unclear transmission and lack of ATC intervention by the Air China flight CA967. The altitude change during CA967 is then attributed to CA967 themselves which led to the conflict with the SF Airlines Boeing 767 above.
The close contact between these two planes has raised once again the issue of an air traffic collision between commercial airplanes in Russia, which are responsible as a control center for handling more than two airplanes in overload conditions. Misunderstandings between pilots and air traffic controllers can result in such dangerous misapplications of the rules, underscoring the importance of both training and clear lines of communication and safety.
This incident also further underscores the difficulties of controlling a lot of planes in areas with less infrastructure that are pushing the limits of air traffic control. In the face of that ongoing growth in world aviation safety and avoiding several near-misses should be top of the list.
Here are some of the key moments that led up to the near-miss:
Change in Altitude: Air China flight CA967, cruising at 34,100 feet, increases to 36,000 feet without authorization from air traffic control.
SF Airlines Clash: SF Airlines O3128 is flying at 35,000 feet on a direct path with CA967.
Miscommunication: Air China misunderstands an altitude instruction intended for another flight (Hainan Airlines), resulting in the change of altitude.
TCAS Activation: Both aircrafts TCAS s activate, causing both pilots to take emergency evasive action.
Resolution: The incident is resolved after a game of cat and mouse but underscores the danger of mismanagement of air traffic.
In the wake of this narrow escape, an enquiry has been requested to investigate the circumstances surrounding the miscommunication and to prevent such a slip-up in future. Although this particular instance ended without a collision, the repercussions of such near-misses can be massive. Both airlines and aviation regulators are now likely to scrutinize their safety procedures and how they have communicated in future.
This also raises concerns as it comes on the heels of safety issues at navigation centres in high-traffic international airports in the region where no substantial upgrade has been done. As the aviation industry continues to grow and recover, including more routes over more challenging regions (such as Russia), better communications is even more important for air traffic controllers and pilots.
The near-miss between Airways China Airbus A350 and SF Airways Boeing 767 in the skies of Russia has sounded alarm bells for the world of aviation. As traffic over the entire globe increases, particularly in places like Siberia, it is important to stay vigilant with routing around potential disaster zones. Although this specific incident was settled in time, it is a reminder of potential hazards that can arise through miscommunication and operational errors in an era of increasingly crowded airspace. The incident demands a radical overhaul of existing air traffic management to protect worldwide passengers.
