SYDNEY, Aug 9 (Reuters) – A Jetstar A320 and a Qatar Airways Boeing 777 narrowly avoided colliding on the tarmac at Sydney airport on Sunday, the Australian Transport Safety Bureau was told, it said, as it began an investigation into the incident.
The Jetstar plane was taxiing for takeoff to Queensland state’s Gold Coast when its flight crew saw the Qatar Airways plane, which was being towed by an aircraft tug, very close on a crossing taxiway, the regulator said.
“Both aircraft were stopped abruptly,” the transport safety bureau said in a statement.
A cabin crew member on the Jetstar plane was injured, and the connection between the Qatar Airways plane’s nose gear and the aircraft tug was damaged, the regulator said.
Jetstar, the budget arm of Australia’s national carrier Qantas, said it was investigating the incident, too.
“Our aircraft was following instructions by Air Traffic Control when the pilots were forced to brake firmly after another aircraft came in close proximity,” a Jetstar spokesperson said in a statement.
Qatar Airways did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Airservices Australia, the federal agency responsible for managing air traffic, said it enacted “departure spacing” at the airport “to safely manage projected airborne and departure demands” following the near-miss.
It declined to comment on the cause of the incident, as it was under review.
The near-miss comes a day after the airport was hit by widespread delays, after Airservices Australia enacted the same strategy due to what it said were “roster constraints” with air traffic controllers.
(Reporting by Sam McKeith in Sydney; Editing by Sonali Paul)
