A Qatar Airways Airbus A350 came close to colliding with a Caspian Airlines McDonnell Douglas MD-83 over Iranian airspace on April 12 this year. The airliner, A7-ANO (c/n 368), was cruising at 34,000ft on a flight between the carrier’s Doha/Hamad base and Los Angeles, while the Mad Dog was reclimbing to 33,000ft.
According to a safety report by Iran’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Board (AAIB), due to “alternate longitudinal trim motor control relays malfunction[s]”, the MD-83 – registered EP-CAS (c/n 53623) – continued climbing 400 feet higher than its cleared level of 33,000ft.