Fourth near-miss at Sydney Airport probed amid staff crunch
Updated . First published at
An investigation has been launched after a taxiing conflict between two Qantas planes at the nation’s busiest airport earlier this week, amid a string of other reported incidents and staffing shortages.
The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) announced that the conflict involved two passenger planes at Sydney Airport on Tuesday morning.
FILE IMAGE - A Qantas-operated 737 on the tarmac at Sydney Airport. AAP
The ATSB reported that a Qantas 737 arriving from the Gold Coast was moving west along taxiway L before receiving the go-ahead to continue right into taxiway B.
At the same time, a Qantas A321 preparing to leave for Melbourne taxied south along taxiway C, receiving clearance to turn right onto taxiway L.
The ATSB said the crew on the Airbus approaching taxiway L saw the Boeing heading towards it from the left before stopping the aircraft.
“The ATSB notes there was no immediate risk of collision, with the Qantas A321 aircraft braking normally before coming to a stop,” it said in a statement.
A Qantas spokesperson told nine.com.au that the airline will support the ATSB’s investigation of the incident.
“Our aircraft was cleared to proceed following instructions from Air Traffic Control,” a spokesperson said.
The near-miss investigation comes as a staff shortage plagued the airport on Wednesday, leading to delays.
Qantas claimed it was still committed to supporting jobs in Australia. Wolter Peeters
In a statement on Wednesday afternoon, Airservices Australia said it was slowing down departures to avoid overcrowding due to a shortage of air traffic controllers.
The investigation into Tuesday’s reported near-miss follows the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) exploring three separate safety incidents at Australia’s busiest airport in as many weeks.
While acknowledging similarities between the three incidents, ATSB Chief Commissioner Angus Mitchell stressed last Friday that they would be treated as isolated cases.
He noted that in most instances, it was the “well-trained and well-qualified pilots” who identified the risks and halted the aircraft.
“It is a concern to us that it even got to that stage.”
“In all three cases, a line of defence kicked in, as it should, to stop this situation from escalating,” he said.
It was learned last week that a training session was underway inside the Sydney Airport control tower last Sunday when two passenger jets came dangerously close, just hours after a separate near-miss.
Two Airservices Australia staff members have since been stood down over one of the incidents.
ATSB investigators have begun interviewing air traffic controllers and flight crews and are gathering recorded flight data as part of their investigation.
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