The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) is investigating a third aircraft movement incident at Sydney Airport within a two-week period, after a Virgin Australia 737 was forced to abort takeoff when a Qantas 737 crossed the same runway on Sunday.
ATSB Chief Commissioner Angus Mitchell said the Virgin flight, cleared for takeoff on Sydney’s main runway, was in its takeoff roll when the crew spotted the Qantas 737 crossing ahead. Both aircraft had received clearance.
“As they’ve started the takeoff roll and started to apply power, they’ve seen a Qantas 737 crossing the runway, and both aircraft had been given clearance,” Mitchell told Today show on Channel 9 this morning. “Obviously, something’s gone wrong.”
The Virgin crew rejected the takeoff, while air traffic control simultaneously cancelled the clearance. Once the Qantas aircraft was clear, Virgin was re-cleared and departed without further incident.
“Certainly, it was well managed, but it shouldn’t have happened in the first place, and that’s what we need to understand,” Mitchell said.
The incident occurred just hours after a separate near-miss involving a Qatar Airways aircraft and a Jetstar aircraft, and follows a coordination breakdown the previous week – the third occurrence the ATSB is investigating over the fortnight.
Training and supervision under scrutiny
Mitchell said the ATSB understood training or supervision was taking place in the tower at the time of the Virgin-Qantas incident, though its role in the incident was not yet clear.
“We understand that there was some training or supervision taking place in the tower at the time,” he said. “What role that may have played, we’re unsure at this point, but we are looking at three incidents over the course of two weeks to really understand exactly what has gone wrong.”
Reporting delay raises concerns
Although the incident occurred on Sunday, the ATSB was not notified until Monday lunchtime – a delay Mitchell said breached mandatory reporting requirements and would form part of the investigation.
“Certainly, there are mandatory reporting requirements, and when they aren’t adhered to, yes, we are concerned,” he said. Mitchell said the delay may be linked to the training scenario underway in the tower, which could have affected how the incident was initially classified for notification purposes.
“We need to understand and get all the evidence before we can make any assumptions there, but we do work closely, whether it be with Airservices or with airlines, to make sure that reporting is done when it needs to be – and if it’s not, well then that’s part of the investigation, too, to see if that process needs to be strengthened.”
Airservices response
Airservices Australia confirmed the incident and said it was working with the ATSB but declined to comment on broader questions about tower staffing. A spokesperson said the organisation “is working with the Australian Transport Safety Bureau to investigate recent incidents involving aircraft moving on the ground at Sydney Kingsford Smith Airport.”
