Hundreds of close calls in the air over Australia

A report in the Brisbane Courier Mail says that air safety in Australia is under a cloud after more than 300 near misses in the past three years, with a breakdown of separation standards allowing passenger jet aircraft in Queensland to cross paths within 700 feet.

In addition, the incidence of air traffic services failing to provide pilots with adequate information on nearby aircraft is also on the rise.

Aviation campaigner and former CASA Chairman Dick Smith said yesterday, “Australia was heading for a mid-air collision unless something was done with the skies getting busier but we have an airspace system designed in the 20s.”

A spokesman for Federal Transport Minister Mark Vaile said the minister was seeking further information and Labor is calling for a Senate inquiry into the problem.

There have been 309 near misses in the past three years, including 57 in the first half of this year, with Qantas and Jetstar involved in a close call over Hamilton Island, a Virgin Blue and Sunstate Airlines plane also breaching recognised separation standards en route from Mackay to Townsville and nearly 150 fires have been reported since 2003.

The figures were tabled in Federal Parliament by the Department of Transport and Regional Services and Labor’s transport spokesman Kerry O’Brien said an inquiry into air safety was long overdue, adding, “The failure of air traffic services to provide adequate traffic information to a pilot in relation to other aircraft is an indication that air traffic control is having problems”.

An attempt to introduce a US-style airspace system in Australia in 2004 was largely abandoned after pressure from pilots and traffic controllers, who said the system was less safe than the previous regime, but Dick Smith said increased air traffic required greater use of radar, adding, “We have a very good radar system between Melbourne and Cairns, probably the best in the world, but it is not used properly.”  “We will end up with an unnecessary accident because the Government, due to resistance to change and lack of leadership, did not follow the US system.”

A spokesman for Mr Vaile said the initial increase in incidents involving air traffic services could reflect increasing industry familiarity with new legal reporting requirements, saying, “The Minister has sought further analysis of data to assess whether has been any increase in failures of air traffic services to provide adequate information to pilots.”

Report by The Mole