Sydney Airport is investigating two further incidents this month, bringing the total to six in just under two months.
In the first, a Virgin Boeing 737 had landed on runway 16 at Sydney Airport on August 16 and began taxiing north along taxiway B.
At the same time, a Qantas Boeing 737 from Melbourne had landed and was planning to exit from the same runway.
Air traffic controllers gave instructions to the crew on board the Virgin aircraft to give way to the Qantas plane, but “this instruction was not read back by the crew” and the air traffic control didn’t identify the incorrect readback.
“As the Qantas aircraft vacated the runway, the crew observed the Virgin aircraft approaching from the right, stopped their aircraft using normal braking and clarified the taxiing sequence,” an Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) statement read.
The second incident occurred nine days later on Tuesday, August 25, after two aircraft taxied behind each other at the same time.
The bureau said incomplete traffic information was given to a Jetstar Airbus A380, which was preparing for pushback before taxiing.
However, a second aircraft, a Bombardier Dash 8, was also taxiing behind the Jetstar plane.
“It was reported that the A320 pushback crew identified the conflicting aircraft, a Bombardier Dash 8, and stopped the pushback before returning the aircraft to the gate,” the ATSB said.
The bureau said there was no risk of collisions between the two aircraft in either incident, with “flight and ground crews assessing the circumstances and reacting appropriately”.
“As such key safety defences remained in place and the ATSB has not categorised the occurrences as near collisions, classifying both occurrences as safety ‘incidents’ rather than ‘serious incidents’,” it said.
Six incidents in two months
These two incidents come after four separate near-miss incident at Sydney Airport between July and August, with a probe under way to determine the reason for the incidents.
On August 18, a Qantas Boeing 737 coming from Melbourne was heading west and had clearance to turn right.
At the same time, another Qantas flight, an Airbus A321, was ready to depart for the Gold Coast and also had clearance to turn.
“As the Airbus approached taxiway … the flight crew observed the Boeing approaching from the left and brought their aircraft to a stop while the Boeing passed ahead of them,” the safety bureau said in a statement.
“The ATSB notes there was no immediate risk of collision, with the Qantas A321 aircraft braking normally before coming to a stop.”
Two near-miss incidents happened on August 9.
Virgin Australia flight VA555 from Sydney to Perth, and Qantas flight QF728 from Sydney to Ayers Rock Airport were involved in a runway incursion and rejected takeoff.
Later that day, a Jetstar A320 and a Qatar Airways Boeing 777 almost collided.
On July 27, a landing QantasLink flight from Canberra and a taxiing Qantas Boeing 737 from Queenstown had a near miss on the tarmac when one plane was given clearance to enter the runway the other plane was landing on.
Read related topics:Sydney