'Very fortunate' no collision yet at Sydney Airport, former pilot says

Sydney Airport is at risk of "catastrophic" outcomes if urgent safety issues are not rectified, according to a former pilot and aviation safety investigator. The warning comes after three separate incidents occurred at the airport within a three-week period.

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We've been very fortunate that there haven't been collisions, but it doesn't mean it won't happen in the future.

Geoff Klouth, who has 35 years of experience in commercial aviation, stated that the airport has been "very fortunate" to avoid actual collisions. He expressed concern that the current system is not functioning adequately and that it is only luck preventing aircraft from coming together. Klouth believes the risk of a serious incident is high, with potentially devastating consequences.

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It's only luck preventing the aircraft coming together because the system is not working at present.

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) is investigating the latest incident, which occurred on August 9. A Qantas flight was cleared to cross the runway while a Virgin Australia aircraft was also preparing for takeoff, leading to the Virgin flight's clearance being rescinded by air traffic control. Just hours earlier, a Jetstar plane and a Qatar Airways aircraft were involved in a near miss, and two weeks prior, a Qantas Link flight and a Qantas plane had a similar close call on the tarmac.

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I'll say that the chances from a risk management level ... are high that something will happen and the consequences of that could be catastrophic.

Klouth, who previously served as a senior aviation safety investigator at the ATSB, noted a decline in the quality and standards of systems supporting pilots. He cited a reduction in air traffic controllers and changes in airport procedures as contributing factors. ATSB chief commissioner Angus Mitchell acknowledged the incidents but stated that multiple layers of defense had prevented escalation in all three cases, emphasizing that accidents typically require multiple points of failure.

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I will say in all three instances, there was a layer of defence that kicked in and prevented an escalation.