Fourth Sydney Airport safety incident in three weeks under investigation

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau is probing a fourth safety incident at Sydney Airport within a span of three weeks. A Qantas flight to Melbourne halted after receiving clearance to travel onto a taxiway where another aircraft was moving to let them pass. Airservices Australia, the government body overseeing air traffic control, declared it will persist in reviewing operational events and implement any necessary measures to uphold safe operations.

The fourth incident, involving aircraft on the ground at Sydney Airport, is under investigation. Airservices Australia disclosed that it reported the potential traffic conflict between two Qantas planes to safety authorities on Tuesday. Shortly after 8 am, Qantas flight QF589, which had landed from the Gold Coast and was heading west along taxiway Lima, encountered Qantas flight QF405 to Melbourne that was authorized to turn onto the same taxiway.

The ATSB classified this as a safety incident due to the conflicting instructions given to the flight crews, but no immediate danger of collision was identified as QF405 applied brakes normally before coming to a halt. Qantas acknowledged its aircraft received clearance following instructions from air traffic control and supported the ATSB's investigation.

This marks the fourth occasion of conflicting instructions being transmitted to planes on Sydney Airport's tarmac within a timeframe of over three weeks. On July 27, a Qantas 737 was authorized to cross the main runway while a QantasLink flight was landing. Two weeks later, Jetstar cabin crew member sustained injuries when their plane had to abruptly brake to avoid colliding with a Boeing 777 under tow.

Later that day, a Virgin flight was cleared to take-off before the permission was abruptly revoked due to a Qantas plane being cleared to cross the same runway more than 1,200 meters in front. Each of these incidents is being probed by the ATSB, which intends to assess any common contributing factors. Airservices Australia noted that all incidents involved diverse circumstances.

The organization stated that each incident is being scrutinized based on its individual facts, according to a statement from an Airservices Australia spokesperson. Airservices Australia affirmed it will persist in reviewing operational events and initiate any required actions to preserve safe operations.