Qantas Planes Involved in Near-Miss at Sydney Airport, Safety Probe Launched

An urgent safety probe has been launched into an incident at Sydney Airport where two Qantas aircraft came close to a collision.

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) is investigating the July 27 event, in which a Qantas Boeing 737 was cleared to cross a runway while a QantasLink flight, operating a De Havilland Canada Dash 8-400, was in its landing roll.

The ATSB described the incident as a "breakdown of co-ordination." According to the bureau, air traffic control instructed the 737 on runway 25 to cross runway 34L while the Q400 was landing on runway 34L.

Air traffic control detected the potential conflict and issued advisories to both crews. The 737 pilot stopped the aircraft after the holding point, averting a collision.