Was there anything odd about this A330 near Tullamarine a few weeks ago?
Qantas jet said to be too low on Melbourne approach | Plane Talking
The ATSB is investigation a ‘serious incident’ in which a Qantas A330 aborted its approach to Melbourne Airport on 8 March after its enhanced ground proximity warning system called
Terrain-Pull up.
However it is important to note that it remains unclear whether this was a false alarm by the EGPW system or a pilot error. There are hills in the area, and the flight was making a visual approach toward a low, but not very low sun.
There is (as is usually the case) more information in the
Aviation Herald report than the
ATSB notification.
The Qantas flight immediately performed a go around when the ‘terrain-pull up’ warning was sounded, as required by its operating procedures. It was operating an afternoon peak Cityflyer service from Sydney and configured to carry over 300 passengers.
The Aviation Herald reports that “the controller told the crew they had been down to 2000 feet and cleared the aircraft to climb to 4000 feet.” This is of concern if correct. The altitude of Melbourne airport is 434 feet and the terrain is substantially higher in the direction of the approach , although it isn’t completely clear just how much real clearance there would have been for the jet immediately before, during or after the alert nor whether it was in a position of peril at that moment.
Is it common for this ground warning system to go off on jets in Australia?