Air China A350, SF Airlines B767 narrowly avoid collision in Russian airspace
An Air China and SF Airlines aircraft narrowly avoided a mid-air collision over the Southern region of Russia on July 6, 2025.
Air China’s A350-900, with registration B-32DN, was en route from Shanghai Pudong International Airport (PVG) to Milan Malpensa Airport (MXP) as flight CA967.
Meanwhile, Chinese cargo aircraft SF Airlines’ Boeing 767-300ER/BCF, with cargo registration B-220R was flying from Budapest Ferenc Liszt International Airport (BUD) to Ezhou Huahu International Airport (EHU) in China.
Reports showed that at around 21:39 GMT, the Air China A350-900 made an unauthorized climb from its designated altitude of 34,100 feet to 36,000 feet.
Two Chinese aircraft nearly collided over Siberia after an Air China passenger jet climbed without air traffic control (ATC) clearance, possibly due to a misheard instruction. The Airbus A350 approached dangerously close—just 90–120 meters—to an SF Airlines cargo plane. Both… pic.twitter.com/VOWjufmZzQ— Info Room (@InfoR00M) July 14, 2025 The abrupt and unexpected ascent brought the A350-900 dangerously close to the Boeing 767-300ER/BCF, which was cruising at 35,000 feet.
With the distance between the two aircraft measuring just 90-120 meters, the Traffic Collision Avoidance System (TCAS) alarms on both aircraft were activated. Air traffic control then guided both aircraft to alter courses in opposite directions.
According to Chinese media reports, the incident occurred over the mountainous Tuva region near the Mongolian border and breached international aviation rules requiring a minimum vertical separation of 1,000 feet between aircraft.
Audio recordings revealed that miscommunication might have played a role in the incident.
Russian air traffic controllers had instructed other flights in the area, namely Air China flight CA861 (Beijing to Geneva) and Hainan Airlines flight HU7937 (Beijing to Prague), to maintain their current altitudes. Flight CA967, however, had received no altitude adjustment instructions at that moment.
In the audio recording, the air traffic controller can be heard asking: “Are you climbing with instruction or without instruction? Confirm, please.” The Air China pilot then replied with: “No. Thank you.”
According to The Independent, the Air China pilot attributed the confusion to a Russian controller who he claimed had made “a fuss”, leaving the crew “confused.”
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The post Air China A350, SF Airlines B767 narrowly avoid collision in Russian airspace appeared first on AeroTime.
An Air China and SF Airlines aircraft narrowly avoided a mid-air collision over the Southern region of Russia…
The post Air China A350, SF Airlines B767 narrowly avoid collision in Russian airspace appeared first on AeroTime.
