'Near miss' for Perth-bound plane

Two Qantas passenger aircraft have been forced to take action after flying too close to each other over SA.

Two Qantas planes fly in close proximity to each other over Sydney. Picture: Brett Costello Source: AAP

AIRSERVICES Australia has stood down a traffic controller involved in Qantas's mid-air near collision earlier today.

It is understood that at about midday, QF581, the Sydney to Perth flight was flying at 38,000ft and the Perth to Sydney flight was at 39,000ft when the Perth-bound flight requested to climb to 40,000ft.

Air traffic control gave permission for the ascension when the on board warning system went off and the pilots sought evasive action.

As the plane ascended, it came into the pathway of QF 576 from Perth to Sydney, which was travelling at 39,000 ft.

After warning notifications went off, the planes involved swerved and narrowly missed each other.

Passengers disembark at Perth Domestic Terminal after the flight from Sydney. Picture: Richard Polden Source: PerthNow

"Our pilots followed standard operating procedures in re-establishing the required separation distance following the alert from the onboard notification system,'' Qantas said in a statement.
"There was no impact to passengers.''

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau was earlier notified that two planes came too close to each other west of Adelaide this afternoon.

Qantas said the two Airbus A330 aircraft had a "loss of separation'', when one flying from Sydney to Perth was granted permission by air traffic control to climb.

The other flight, coming in the opposite direction, was travelling from Perth to Sydney.

FRIGHTENED: Walter T Bird, 76, talks to the media at Perth Airport about the flight. Picture: Richard Polden Source: PerthNow

Qantas confirmed the two planes involved were a Sydney-to-Perth flight, QF581, which landed at Perth Airport about  1.30pm. The other, flying from Perth to Sydney, was QF576.

Passenger 'saw other plane'

Passenger Gary Martin, who was on the Sydney-to-Perth flight, said he saw the other Qantas plane fly beneath his plane, but was not worried.
 
"I just happened to look out the window somewhere over South Australia and happened to see a plane fly underneath," Mr Martin said after landing at Perth Airport.

NOT WORRIED: Passenger Gary Martin saw the other plane fly beneath the aircraft he was on but remained calm. Picture: Richard Polden Source: PerthNow

"I was not worried at all."

Another Perth passenger, Leanne, said nobody on board was told about the incident.

"I'm a bit concerned that nothing was said, you still want to know what's going on and now I'm shaking," she said.

Former United Airlines maintenance technician Walter Bird said passengers noticed nothing at all during the flight.

"I didn't notice any violent manoeuvres or anything," he said.

"It's not uncommon actually, near misses and that sort of thing. It's just a matter of clear communications."

Safe ground: Passenger Leanne tells of her ordeal on arrival at Perth Airport. Picture: Richard Polden Source: PerthNow

Most of the passengers coming off the flight said they did not know about the near-miss until asked by news crews  at Perth Airport.

An ATSB spokesman said the authority knew of a "loss of separation" incident involving the two aircraft.

Qantas confirmed two of its aircraft had a "loss of separation" over Adelaide, but it denied there was any near-miss or immediate danger to the planes.

In a statement, Qantas said: "Indications are that the loss of separation occurred when one of the Qantas aircraft received clearance to climb from Air Traffic Control," the statement read.

"Our pilots followed standard operating procedures in re-establishing the required separation distance following the alert from the onboard notification system. There was no impact to passengers."

Airservices Australia, which has responsibility for air traffic management, said it had reported the incident to the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) and had notified the Civil Aviation Safety Authority.

It said updates would be provided to the ATSB and Airservices Australia would cooperate fully with any investigation.

An ATSB spokesman said it was gathering more information to determine if it was necessary to investigate the incident.

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