ABC News Online
Thursday, December 18, 2003. 7:45pm (AEDT)
Report clears the air on near miss
The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) says there was no infringement of airspace in a near miss reported near Melbourne last month.
The ATSB has released its finding from the investigation following the introduction of new airspace operating procedures last month.
On December 3, a Boeing 737 en route from Coolangatta was making its descent at Melbourne Airport when its collision warning system activated as a Cessna below it was cleared to move.
At the time air traffic controllers claimed the Boeing 737 flight with 104 people on board was just 20 seconds away from disaster.
However the bureau's deputy director, Allan Stray, says the investigation has found all aircraft involved were entitled to be in the space they were flying in.
"The Cessna was in class E Airspace and the 737 entered class E airspace when it reached flight level 180 - that's 18,000 feet on its descent," he said.
"There was no prescribed separation standard applicable in that airspace, therefore there was no infringement of separation standards at this time."
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