The Australian Transport Safety Bureau is investigating a ‘serious incident’ after two Qantas jets came within just 150 metres of each other.
It happened while a trainee air traffic control staffer was on duty and being supervised by a training instructor at Sydney Airport.
On 5 August 2019, a Qantas A330 jet was taking off as a Qantas Boeing 737 was on the approach to land at the same runway.
The trainee ordered the 737 jet to perform a go-around but that resulted in a ‘loss of separation between their aircraft and the departing A330’, the ATSB said.
At one point the planes were separated by just 150 metres vertically.
The safe minimum is 300 metres vertically within an airport’s airspace.
They were close enough to trigger the A330’s automatic collision avoidance system.
The 737 made a second approach to the runway and landed without incident.
Qantas said the two aircraft were not in danger of a collision and both flight crews followed ATC instructions.
"We’re continuing to work with the ATSB on their ongoing investigation," it said.
