The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) has confirmed it is investigating the circumstances where a Jetstar Airbus A320 and Malaysia AirAsia X A330 managed to fly too close to each other near Gold Coast Airport.
The incident, which took place about six kilometres north of Gold Coast Airport on July 21, involved an inbound Jetstar A320, VH-VFO, from Melbourne (Avalon) and an AirAsia X A330-300, 9M-XXS, departing for Auckland.
The ATSB said in a short message on its website said the flightpaths of the two aircraft led to a loss of separation, and both aircraft received a traffic collision avoidance system (TCAS) alert. As a result, the Jetstar A320 conducted a climb to increase separation.
“While these aircraft came closer than normal separation standards there was no risk of collision as the systems and the aircraft crews manoeuvred to avoid any further conflict,” the ATSB statement said.
“At this stage the details of the occurrence are yet to be verified and are limited to the notifications provided by Airservices Australia, Jetstar and Air Asia X.
“As part of this investigation, the ATSB will obtain air traffic control radar and audio information, interview the involved air traffic controllers and flight crews, and gather additional information.”
The ATSB said it would publish an update on the matter within the next few weeks, while the investigation was expected to be completed by June 2017.
Jetstar said in a statement on its website the pilots of flight JQ630 from Melbourne (Avalon) to the Gold Coast had taken “corrective action to restore the safe distance between the two aircraft”, adding that the flight landed without further incident.
“Our crew did a fantastic job and responded to the situation as they are trained to do. At all times they followed the instructions of air traffic control,” Jetstar said.
The Jetstar A320 was configured with 180 seats, while Malaysia AirAsia X’s A330s have 377 seats.
