Air inquiry over mountain alarm
By Steve Creedy
September 22, 2004
THE Australian Transport Safety Bureau is investigating an early-morning incident over Canberra in which a Qantas aircraft flew close enough to a mountain to trigger a ground proximity warning.
The ATSB confirmed last night it was investigating an incident believed to have involved a Qantas 737 arriving from Perth about two weeks ago. But it would not elaborate ahead of a preliminary report expected to be released this week.
An ATSB spokesman said a notice on a professional pilots' website claiming the aircraft was forced into an emergency climb after it came within 150ft, or two seconds, of a mountain, "contained inaccuracies".
Other information on the website suggested the pilots involved reacted to the alarm using standard operating procedures.
"Both the airline and pilots involved are co-operating fully with the investigation, but until the ATSB has completed its investigation it's inappropriate to draw any conclusions based on anecdotal comments," the spokesman said.
The head of flight operations at Qantas, Chris Manning, said: "The information on the website is factually incorrect and the ATSB is investigating."
Mr Manning said the airline had promptly reported the incident to the ATSB.
The investigation comes as airspace activist Dick Smith ramped up his campaign to thwart Airservices Australia plans to roll back controversial airspace reforms.
A legal challenge by Mr Smith aimed at stopping the reversal will be heard in the Federal Court on November 1. Mr Smith claims Airservices did not take into account expert reports questioning the methodology used to support the reversal decision or concerns raised by the Civil Aviation Safety Authority. He is also claiming the decision to introduce controlled "Class C" airspace without radar is unsafe.
The Australian
Source:
http://www.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,4057,10839567%255E421,00.html