A report from Australia’s Transport Safety Bureau has found it was only by “chance alone” that a Jetstar Airbus A320 and a light plane didn’t collide back in November 2020.
It was on the morning of November 28, 2020, that the Jetstar plane, with 170 people on-board, was coming in to land at Ballina Byron Gateway Airport in northern NSW.
At the same time the Jetstar plane was descending, a Jabiru J230D light plane was conducting a private flight from Heck Field in Queensland to Evans Head in NSW.
The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) report found the two planes were dangerously close to colliding, with the gap between them shrinking to as little as 600ft (183m).
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The investigation found that the pilot of the Jabiru had no idea the Jetstar flight was so close to him, or that the two aircraft were converging, until he flew just above the Airbus.
The flight crew of the Jetstar flight was also unaware of the presence of the Jabiru until they were alerted to the impending conflict by the aircraft’s traffic collision avoidance system.
The ATSB also found the pilot of the Jabiru did not set the aircraft’s transponder to broadcast altitude data.
This meant the Jabiru was not providing the Jetstar flight crew with the necessary information to avoid the potential collision.
The Jetstar flight crew were unable to sight the aircraft until just before the flight paths intersected.
The ATSB found it was “by chance alone” that there was a separation between the two planes and they didn’t crash.
“The ATSB also found that the most recent regulatory review of the airspace surrounding Ballina Byron Gateway Airport, and subsequent periodic reviews, had not specifically considered the risks associated with aircraft transiting the airspace without taking off or landing at the airport,” the bureau said.
In response to the terrifying near miss, Ballina Airport has since expanded its broadcast area to a radius of 15 nautical miles.
An Airservices Australia surveillance flight information service (SFIS) also began operating in August 2021.
The SFIS provided traffic information to aircraft operating within the broadcast area on the airport’s common traffic advisory frequency.
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Previously, the airspace around Ballina was “non-controlled”, meaning aircraft were required to fly by “see-and-avoid principles” – meaning they watch for other traffic and monitor radios to stop collisions.
“The airspace surrounding Ballina Airport accommodates a complex mix of aircraft types and operations, and there is a number of other non-controlled airports in close proximity,” the report said.
“The ATSB determined that while the available evidence did not support a conclusion that the present system of aircraft self-separation in Ballina airspace is unsafe, there is the opportunity to potentially further reduce the safety risk.”
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