Jetstar and AirAsia Planes Narrowly Avoid Collision at Gold Coast Airport

29th Jul 2016

A collision between Jetstar Airbus A320 and AirAsia Airbus A330 was narrowly avoided as the two planes came dangerously close to one another on the Gold Coast Airport's runway on 21st July this year.

According to the spokesperson for Jetstar, their pilot received clearance from the air traffic control to descend.

Jetstar's spokesman said:

"During descent the aircraft warning system alerted our pilots to another aircraft approaching our approved flight path. Our pilots took corrective action to restore the safe distance between the two aircraft. The flight continued on to the Gold Coast and landed without further incident."

The spokesman continued:

"It's likely that most passengers would not have been aware of the 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."

Seeing that its plane might collide with AirAsia's, Jetstar pilots climbed the vessel and managed to re-establish a safe distance between the two jets.

A spokesperson for AirAsia said the pilots on board its aircraft were following the flight path and that they had their altitude and heading provided by the air traffic controller. She also said that AirAsia A330 received a go-ahead signal for takeoff from the Gold Coast Airport.

AirAsia's spokeswoman said:

"The aircraft took off safely and continued its journey without any subsequent events. Investigation is being led by Air Transport Safety Bureau and AirAsia X is co-operating fully."

A spokesman for the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) said they are investigating the incident. A statement from ATSB said:

"The flight paths of the inbound Airbus A320 and the outbound Airbus A330 resulted in a loss of separation. Both aircraft received a traffic collision avoidance system (TCAS) resolution advisory ... with the crew of the A320 conducting a climb to increase separation."

ATSB will have a full report of the incident completed by July next year.

Fortunately, neither plane suffered any damage nor there were no injuries reported from either the two crews or the passengers on board the planes.