Australia’s transport safety chief has warned there are “a lot of stresses on the system” after a second near-miss at Sydney Airport in just weeks.
In the latest incident, a Jetstar pilot was forced to brake suddenly to avoid colliding with a Qatar Airways aircraft being towed across the tarmac, injuring a cabin crew member in the process.
WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Sydney Airport under scrutiny after second near-miss
Know the news with the 7NEWS app: Download today Arrow
The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) is now investigating what went wrong, with Chief Commissioner Angus Mitchell saying the incident, while at low speed, had the potential to be far more serious.
“Those two aircraft should not have come as close as they did,” Mitchell told Sunrise on Monday.
“We had one aircraft that was the Jetstar one preparing for a departure up to the Gold Coast. Now, that was full of passengers, full of fuel. But then we had a Qatar airline that landed earlier in the morning that was being manoeuvred.”
The incident comes amid growing pressure on Sydney’s aviation network, with Mitchell acknowledging the industry has faced challenges training, recruiting and qualifying air traffic controllers since the COVID-19 pandemic.
He noted the challenges are being compounded by the introduction of a new airspace design and preparations for the opening of Western Sydney International Airport.
The ATSB is examining the communication and coordination between ground control and aircraft, including whether the correct instructions were given, received and understood appropriately.
“The coordination is as important in the air as it is on the ground as well. And we need to understand what went wrong,” Mitchell said.
The incident comes after air traffic control staffing issues caused widespread delays at Sydney Airport on Friday and Saturday.
More than 120 flights were delayed by about 90 minutes on Friday, with more flights arriving at and departing from the airport impacted by “operational restrictions” on Saturday.
The restrictions forced greater separation between arriving and departing aircraft to ensure passenger safety.
Australian Transport Safety Bureau Chief Commissioner Angus Mitchell said the near-miss at Sydney Airport had the potential to be far worse. Credit: Sunrise
Second near-miss in weeks
The latest tarmac near-miss comes just two weeks after two Qantas aircraft were cleared to use the same runway at Sydney Airport at the same time.
A Qantas Boeing 737 had landed from Queenstown, New Zealand, and a QantasLink Dash 8 had arrived from Canberra when the two aircraft were cleared onto the same runway about 8.14am on July 27.
Both aircraft stopped before colliding and no one was injured.
The ATSB classified the near-miss as a “serious” incident, with Mitchell previously revealing the bureau receives about 60 reports of similar occurrences each year, although only a small number reach that threshold.
Mitchell said it remained crucial that processes were in place to keep aircraft separated before pilots were forced to intervene.
“In both cases, we had pilots in the aircraft two weeks ago, recognised it, stopped in time, fortunately. But they shouldn’t have been down to them at the end of the day. There should have been a process that actually separated them in the first place,” Mitchell said.
The ATSB has called for anyone with footage to come forward.
Qantas runway near-miss raises ‘serious’ safety concerns
2 min read
Flight capacity restored after travel chaos at Sydney Airport
2 min read
