Near misses call for better air talk: ATSB

Australia's transport safety watchdog has highlighted the need for better communication between pilots after a string of near misses involving gliders.

Between February and April there were three cases - two in regional NSW and one in regional Victoria - when urgent evasive action was needed to prevent a collision, including one instance involving a Regional Express commercial passenger service which came within 100 metres of a single-seat glider near Orange.

"Insufficient communication between pilots operating in the same area is the most common cause of safety incidents near non-controlled aerodromes," noted a report in the case of two gliders which came within 30 metres of each other near eastern Victoria's Porepunkah Airfield.