SYDNEY, Aug 26 (Reuters) – Australia’s transport safety regulator on Wednesday opened two investigations into taxiing conflicts at Sydney airport, involving a Virgin and Qantas aircraft on August 16 and a Jetstar and Bombardier aircraft on August 25.
The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) classified both events as safety incidents rather than serious incidents, saying there was no immediate risk of collision as flight and ground crews reacted to avoid conflict.
• On August 16, a taxiing Virgin 737 was told by air traffic control to give way to a Qantas 737 vacating the runway. The instruction was not read back correctly and went unnoticed by controllers, the ATSB said in a statement.
• On August 25, incomplete traffic information was passed to a Jetstar A320, creating a conflict with a taxiing Bombardier Dash 8.
• The two investigations are being run separately but with coordinating teams, and could be widened or combined depending on the evidence.
• The ATSB expects to publish preliminary reports on both investigations within six to eight weeks.
• Virgin and Qantas, which also owns Jetstar, said in separate statements they will support the ATSB’s investigations.
• The regulator is already investigating four similar incidents at the airport, including one that injured a member of a plane’s cabin crew.
(Reporting by Alasdair Pal in Sydney; Editing by Christian Schmollinger)
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