Qantas jets in near collision

[Wirraway]

news.com.au

Jets seconds from catastrophe
By Darrell Giles
February 15, 2004

AN investigation is under way after two Qantas jets were involved in a terrifying near-miss at Brisbane Airport.

A Boeing 737 aircraft with about 150 passengers had to abort a landing at the last moment to avoid crashing into another plane sitting on the runway on Friday night. Passengers yesterday said the jets were only a matter of seconds away from disaster in the incident, which happened just before 6pm.

One of the frightened passengers was federal MP Bob Katter.

"We were only a few feet from bumping down, perhaps half a second away . . . then he switched on the throttle," said the Independent member for the north Queensland electorate of Kennedy.

"I was scared for my life and I don't scare easy. Something is terribly wrong if one plane is coming into land and another is sitting on the runway.

"I personally intend to find out what went wrong."

The Air Transport Safety Bureau's duty investigator, John Robbins, initiated the investigation yesterday.

Mr Robbins said radar tapes and recordings of communication between air traffic controllers and the aircraft would be examined in detail.

He said it was very rare for a plane to abort a landing at such a low altitude.

Mr Robbins said it was possible the departing plane was granted permission to make an early, rapid take-off but was too slow in responding to the instruction.

"That's all speculation until we hear the transmissions. There are so many possibilities," he said.

Airservices Australia - responsible for air traffic control and navigation - and Qantas both confirmed the incident.

Qantas spokesman Simon Rushton said the Sydney-Brisbane flight QF542 was forced to "go around" because of the obstruction on the tarmac.

Mr Rushton said there were no reports of injuries to passengers or crew.

Airservices Australia spokesman David Gray said an initial report of the incident found a Qantas aircraft had "sat too long" on the runway due to a "communication problem".

He was unclear of the distance between the two jets when the pilot of QF542 was forced to take emergency action and take to the sky again.

Mr Gray said there was no problem with the "go around" manoeuvre. "The only issue we have is in regard to traffic separation," he said.

The incident is likely to escalate concerns over the controversial new air traffic control regulations.

The National Airspace System, introduced in November, has been widely criticised within the aviation industry.

The Air Transport Safety Bureau last month called for a review of the system after a series of mid-air near-collisions.

Federal Transport Minister John Anderson is expected to announce changes to NAS soon.

Mr Katter was concerned the near- collision could have been caused by the changes to air traffic regulations, which allowed light aircraft to share airspace with commercial jets.

Pilots and air traffic controllers say the new rules endanger the lives of passengers.

Airservices Australia chairman John Forsyth resigned this week without public explanation, amid growing speculation the Federal Government is about to reverse large sections of the new air rules.

"I was disturbed by the changes," Mr Katter said. "It has certainly compromised safety for no obvious benefit."

Mr Katter, who takes hundreds of flights every year, said it was the first time he had been on a commercial plane that had to abort its landing.

"I have been in a lot of tight situations in small planes, but nothing like that," he said. "If he had landed, then his ability to take off again would have been severely restricted -- the wheels were almost on the tarmac."

Another passenger, Philip Castle, a lecturer in journalism at Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane, said the flight had been delayed after having to skirt the edge of a storm over the Gold Coast.

"We were coming into land at Brisbane -- we were, I would estimate, about one to three seconds from touching down," he said. "Suddenly the pilot powered up and let fly. It was a complete surprise."

Mr Castle, an occasional pilot, said the decision to abort appeared "very late . . . I think he was right on the limit".

He said some passengers were obviously concerned as the plane elevated rapidly and headed out towards Moreton Bay.

Mr Castle questioned why it was not obvious sooner that a plane was on the runway and a decision to abort the landing was not taken 30-45 seconds earlier.

"It was a potentially life-threatening situation," he said.

The Sunday Mail (Qld)

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