Yet another near disaster at Sydney Airport is under investigation, after a Virgin Australia 737 was cleared for a full length runway takeoff at the same time as a Qantas 737 was given the green light to cross the runway.
The incident happened less than two hours after a near collision of a Jetstar A320 and a Qatar Airways 777 on the taxiway of the airport on Sunday morning. The Australian Transport Safety Bureau flagged its investigation late Thursday, describing the incident as a “runway incursion and rejected takeoff”.
“At around 10am local time, air traffic control cleared the Virgin Australia 737 for a full-length takeoff on runway 34L,” said the brief.
“As the crew applied thrust for takeoff they observed the Qantas 737 begin to cross the runway ahead of them from the taxiway.”
The ATSB summary said the Qantas crew reported having received 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 takeoff clearance,” the ATSB said.
“Once the Qantas 737 was clear of the runway, the Virgin Australia 737 was re-cleared by air traffic control to commence takeoff.”
ATSB chief commissioner Angus Mitchell said the investigation began after the bureau was notified of the incident on Thursday.
A Virgin Australia spokesman said the incident was reported to the ATSB in line with the airline’s safety procedures and the company would support the investigation. “We take the safety of our guests and crew extremely seriously,” he said.
Airservices Australia, which is responsible for air navigation, was working with the ATSB to investigate “recent incidents involving aircraft moving on the ground at Sydney Kingsford Smith”.
“Airport 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,” a spokeswoman said.
She stressed that at no time were the Qantas and Virgin Australia 737s in proximity.
The earlier near collision on Sunday morning saw the Jetstar A320 and Qatar Airways 777 pull up within 50m of each other.
Passengers had disembarked from the 777 after flying in from Doha, but there were 151 passengers and six crew on the A320. One Jetstar cabin crew member suffered a broken wrist after the pilots were forced to brake suddenly during the taxi.
Following the incident, the tug driver and an air traffic controller were stood down.
On July 27, two Qantas aircraft were involved in a “breakdown of co-ordination” when a 737 was given clearance to cross a runway at the same time as a QantasLink Q400 was landing.
The air traffic control clearance was withdrawn at the same time as the Qantas pilots pulled up, after sighting the Q400 on the runway.
The string of near disasters saw Transport Minister Catherine King order Airservices CEO Rob Sharp to an urgent meeting on Monday, at which he promised to hire more staff.
Mr Sharp also issued an apology to travellers for all too frequent staff shortages at the Sydney Airport air traffic control tower, resulting in extensive flight delays and cancellations.
In a statement he avoided commenting on the recent incidents under investigation by the ATSB, but insisted “safety is not compromised when issues with staffing levels occur”.
“We are committed to improving the consistency of our performance. We are building a larger pool of standby air traffic controllers to increase our staffing contingency numbers at Sydney Kingsford Smith Airport to reduce overtime and deliver stable rosters,” Mr Sharp said.
Robyn IronsideAviation Writer