ATSB probes third Sydney runway near-miss

“At around 10 am local time, air traffic control (ATC) cleared the Virgin Australia 737 for a full-length take-off on runway 34L,” the ATSB said in a statement.

“As the crew applied thrust for take-off, they observed the Qantas 737 begin to cross the runway ahead of them from taxiway lima. The Qantas crew reported having received a clearance from ATC to cross the runway.

“The Virgin Australia crew reduced thrust and the aircraft came to a stop on the runway. At the same time, ATC broadcast a cancellation of the take-off clearance. Once the Qantas 737 was clear of the runway, the Virgin Australia 737 was re-cleared by ATC to commence take-off.”

Australian Aviation understands that the take-off clearance of VA555 was cancelled within four seconds of the initial clearance after ATC saw QF728 crossing the runway, and that the two aircraft were never in close proximity.

“Airservices Australia is working with the Australian Transport Safety Bureau to investigate recent incidents involving aircraft moving on the ground at Sydney Kingsford Smith Airport,” an Airservices spokesperson said.

“Safety is Airservices’ top priority and we are committed to working with all stakeholders including airlines, ground handlers, regulators and airport operators to keep the travelling public safe.”

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Airservices CEO Sharp was on 10 August called into a meeting with Transport Minister Catherine King to address concerns over recent delays in Sydney that had flow-on effects across the network, as well as over two prior incidents at Sydney where planes came close to colliding on the tarmac.

The first saw a QantasLink and Qantas domestic jet almost cross paths, while the second saw a Jetstar A320 need to brake suddenly, injuring a cabin crew member, to avoid hitting an empty Qatar Airways plane. The incidents have raised questions about Airservices staffing levels.

“We have completed our internal reviews, and they are very, very different events. Very different stakeholders involved, and we obviously take safety seriously. The incident is typically investigated, and then we’ll look at whether there’s learnings coming out of it,” Sharp told Australian Aviation.

“However, from the staffing perspective and the delays, the way that we manage the risk is if our staff are short for a particular period, for a break, or for a particular roster, we keep everyone safe by spreading the aircraft further apart, and that actually then creates the delays. So, people feel the delay, but the reason they’re doing it is to keep the system safe.

“So, I can absolutely assure the public that safety is not compromised when these staffing issues arise. We have those measures in place to keep things safe, but it does unfortunately have a flow-on effect to delays. And we fully appreciate the impacts that that’s having on the travelling public.”