A Virgin Australia plane was directed to take last minute evasive action
while coming into land at Gold Coast airport this morning to avoid a
light aircraft.
Beachgoers at Bilinga watched in amazement as the
Boeing 737 flying in from Sydney took a sharp turn just as it was about
to land around 9.15am AEST, at the same time as a tiny Cessna appeared
in view.
Parents watching their children enjoy nippers at nearby
Bilinga club told The Courier-Mail a Virgin Australia jet coming in to
land from the south pulled out at the last minute and roared over the
beach.
“It peeled towards the beach a few hundred metres above houses and then we saw a smaller aircraft taking off,” a witness said.
“The bigger jet was flying really low and fast.
“Everyone
was talking about it. It looked like if the Virgin plane had not pulled
out there could have been a big problem. They were very close to each
other.”
Light radar images show the Virgin Australia aircraft
flying in to land and then turning sharply at the last moment as a small
aircraft takes off from Coolangatta.
The Virgin flight then performed a loop before landing without incident behind a Qantas aircraft.
No flight report was lodged by the pilot at the Gold Coast.
A
Virgin Australia spokesman confirmed the flight from Sydney was
directed to complete a “go around procedure” because an aircraft on the
runway was taking longer than expected to take off.
“The aircraft completed the manouvre and landed ahead of schedule,” he said.
Boeing 737-800s generally carry up to 189 passengers.
An Air Services Australia spokeswoman confirmed the incident was not as serious as it may have appeared.
“They were potentially going to come a little bit too close so a procedural assurance was given,” said the spokeswoman.
“There was never any danger to anyone and no loss of separation.”
She said loss of separation assurances were commonplace in Australian aviation and generally of no concern.
Originally published as Beachgoers watch near plane collision
Story, Comments, Video and Photos: http://www.couriermail.com.au
No comments:
Post a Comment