Two additional incidents involving commercial aircraft at Sydney Airport have prompted new investigations by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB), bringing the total number of inquiries into air traffic control operations at the airport to six within the last month.
The ATSB is examining two recent events, occurring on August 16 and August 25, which involved planes from Virgin Australia, Qantas, QantasLink, and Jetstar. While classified as safety incidents rather than serious incidents, they add to a growing list of concerns regarding operational safety.
The August 16 incident involved two taxiing aircraft, a Virgin Australia plane and a Qantas plane. The Virgin flight was instructed to yield to the Qantas aircraft, but the flight crew did not read back the instruction, and air traffic control failed to note the unacknowledged communication. The Qantas crew observed the approaching Virgin plane and was able to halt its movement and correct the taxiing sequence.
The more recent incident on August 25 involved a Jetstar plane. Traffic controllers provided incomplete information to the taxiing Jetstar crew, which led to confusion in the pushback operations.
Other incidents under investigation include a taxiing conflict on August 18, two near-collisions on August 9, and a near-miss on July 27. The most serious of these occurred on August 9, when a Jetstar plane and a Qatar Airways plane had a near-collision. The pilot of the Jetstar aircraft was forced to brake sharply to avoid impact, resulting in an injury to a crew member and damage to the Qatar aircraft.
Airservices, the government agency responsible for managing air traffic, has previously acknowledged staffing shortages among air traffic controllers and has been criticized for delays in hiring and training new personnel. The ATSB is conducting separate investigations into each incident to ensure safety measures are effective and to identify any common underlying safety issues or contributing factors. These investigations will include interviews with air traffic controllers, flight crews, and ground staff, as well as a review of recorded data. The ATSB anticipates completing these investigations within eight weeks.