Sydney Airport incident: ATSB investigate air traffic control after third incident in three weeks

The Sydney Airport air traffic control is once again under investigation after a Boeing 737 was forced to abort its takeoff due to another Boeing 737 crossing the same runway.

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau has launched a probe into why a Virgin Australia flight from Sydney to Perth was cleared to begin its takeoff procedure at about 10am on August 9, before the realisation that a Qantas flight to Uluru had also been cleared to cross the runway.

The Virgin flight — VA555 — had already applied thrust for takeoff when the crew became aware of the incident and halted the aircraft before it could make contact with the Qantas flight QF728.

“At the same time, ATC broadcast a cancelation of the take-off clearance,” a statement from the ATSB said.

“Once the Qantas 737 was clear of the runway, the Virgin Australia 737 was re-cleared by ATC to commence take-off.”

A statement from AirServices Australia acknowledged the incident, but refused to comment on wider issues of staffing at the Sydney Airport control tower which are believed to have caused a swathe of near-misses.

“Airservices Australia is working with the Australian Transport Safety Bureau to investigate recent incidents involving aircraft moving on the ground at Sydney Kingsford Smith Airport,” the spokesperson said.

“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.”

The latest incident comes just weeks after another near miss at the same airport, when a Qantas jet was cleared to cross the Airport’s main runway while another aircraft was landing.

The ATSB announced it is investigating a “breakdown of coordination” between QantasLink Bombadier DHC-8 from Canberra and another Qantas flight on a Boeing 737 from Queenstown on July 27.

It is believed air traffic control cleared the Boeing 737 — flight number QFA124 — to cross a runway moments after the QantasLink flight QLK424D had touched down on the same runway.

Airlines for Australia CEO Stephen Beckett says delays are “ongoing and persistent” around the country, thanks to staffing issues at the Sydney tower.

“We are constantly seeing an inability to staff the air traffic control towers around the country and that is leading to considerable disruptions to our airlines and passengers,” Mr Beckett reportedly told the Pacific Airline Leader Summit last week.

“It’s not just the one-off.”