An investigation is underway into how an AirAsia plane and a Jetstar plane came dangerously close to colliding at Gold Coast Airport on July 21.
The AirAsia plane was taking off from the airport about 11.42am, and the Jetstar plane was descending, when the two aircraft reportedly came within about 150 metres of each other.
The AirAsia Airbus A330 was bound for Auckland, and the Jetstar Airbus A320 was arriving from Victoria’s Avalon Airport, near Geelong.
A spokesman for the Australian Transport Safety Bureau confirmed the authority had begun investigating the incident.
“The flightpaths of the inbound Airbus A320 and the outbound Airbus A330 resulted in a loss of separation,” the ATSB said in a statement on its website.
“Both aircraft received a traffic collision avoidance system (TCAS) resolution advisory…with the crew of the A320 conducting a climb to increase separation.”
The traffic collision avoidance system monitors the airspace around an aircraft for other aircraft equipped with corresponding active transponders and gives warning of possible collision risks.
It’s believed the system activated an alarm within the cockpit of each aircraft, alerting pilots to the near-miss.
There was no damage to either aircraft and it is not known whether the passengers noticed the near-miss.
A report from the investigation will be completed by July 2017.
AirAsia and Jetstar have been contacted for comment.