The ATSB has published two preliminary reports into separate incidents at Sydney Airport in August, both of which were resolved by flight crew and ground staff taking evasive action. The reports do not make findings or recommendations but outline the sequence of events and conditions.
First incident: August 17
Virgin flight VA1589 had diverted from Newcastle due to bad weather and was taxiing to the domestic terminal. At about 9:40am, the air traffic controller instructed the crew to "follow the Qantas to vacate ahead, hold short runway 25." The Virgin captain read back only the hold-short instruction, and the controller did not recognise the incomplete read-back and moved on to other tasks.
Shortly afterward, the crew of Qantas flight QF420 saw the Virgin jet approaching a taxiway intersection at a speed that suggested it would not give way. The Qantas crew stopped the aircraft using normal braking. The Virgin jet passed in front of the Qantas aircraft, and its crew did not realise there was a conflict until the Qantas crew queried the controller.
The controller was removed from duty for the rest of the day and later told investigators their view of the taxiway intersection from the tower was limited by equipment in the tower cab.
According to the ATSB report, the controller was rostered to finish at 8:50pm the night before and start again at 5:30am the next day. They were the only controller in the tower, with a high predicted fatigue level. The report noted that predicted fatigue did not mean a controller was necessarily fatigued, only that they were at risk based on their roster. The controller described their mental fatigue as "fine and alert" and said they were "fit for duty."
The report also noted that Airservices Australia, which provides air traffic control at Sydney, does not have a fatigue management system approved by the Civil Aviation Safety Authority.
Second incident: August 25
A controller cleared a Jetstar A320 (JST745) to push back from bay 59 onto a taxiway. About 30 seconds later, the same controller cleared a QantasLink Dash 8 (QLK427D) to taxi along the same taxiway past the A320's bay. The Dash 8 crew saw the A320's tail moving backwards and stopped about 100 metres from the bay. The pushback driver and dispatcher also stopped and warned the flight crew. The Jetstar jet was then towed back onto its bay so the Dash 8 could pass behind it.
Three air traffic controllers told the ATSB that pushbacks from some gates were prone to conflicts because aircraft push straight onto an active taxiway rather than an apron. The tower shift manager and a supervising instructor said the area could be a "black spot" where aircraft were not always detected. The controller on duty said they "felt fine" but had "not had many days off in the past month."
Response
Airservices Australia said in a statement that it acknowledged the interim reports and would "review the findings once these investigations are complete."
ATSB chief commissioner Angus Mitchell said both incidents were mitigated because flight crews and ground staff identified the conflicts and acted accordingly. "As such, an important safety defence acted appropriately, but our role is to establish why crew actions were necessary to prevent a more serious outcome," he said. Investigators are yet to determine whether staffing contributed to any of the six incidents currently under examination.
The two reports are among six investigations into close-call incidents at Sydney Airport.