Updated August 21, 2026 — 11:36am,first published 11:03am
You have reached your maximum number of saved items.
Investigators are examining how two Qantas flights at Sydney Airport were given clearance to take the same route on a taxiway on Tuesday.
The incident is the fourth in the past four weeks at the airport, where shortages of air traffic controllers in its tower are being blamed for frequent delays.
The Australian Transport Safety Bureau said a Qantas 737 arriving from the Gold Coast was heading west on the ground and had clearance to turn right.
At the same time, a Qantas Airbus A321 preparing to depart for Melbourne also had clearance to turn, which would have put it in the other plane’s path.
“As the Airbus approached … the crew observed the Boeing approaching from the left and stopped the aircraft,” the bureau said.
Scrutiny over the operations of air traffic controllers has increased in the past month, following a series of incidents primarily at Sydney Airport.
The safety bureau is also investigating a runway incursion and a rejected take-off of Virgin Australia flight VA555 from Sydney to Perth and Qantas flight QF728 from Sydney to Ayers Rock Airport August 9.
On the same day, a Jetstar A320 almost collided with a Qatar Airways Boeing 777. That incident was initially described as a near collision, although the bureau later called it a “proximity event”.
On the latest investigation, on August 18, the bureau said: “The evidence collection phase of the investigation will involve interviewing involved air traffic controllers and flight crew, retrieving and reviewing available recorded data, and the collection of other relevant information.”
The bureau said in a statement it would look at the instructions given to flight crews and whether there were common factors with the spate of other incidents at Sydney Airport.
There was no immediate risk of collision, it said, as the Qantas A321 aircraft was braking normally before coming to a stop. The bureau classified the event as a safety “incident” rather than a “serious incident”.
It will conduct an investigation “to understand the potential conflicting instructions to the flight crews and whether there are any contributing factors common across the other Sydney Airport incidents currently under investigation”.
A Qantas spokesperson said: “Our aircraft was cleared to proceed following instructions from air traffic control and we will support the ATSB in the investigation.”