Sydney Tower Controller Had High Fatigue Risk Before Close Call

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An air traffic controller with a high predicted risk of fatigue was the only controller in Sydney Airport's tower when a Virgin Australia jet cut in front of a Qantas plane on August 17, according to a preliminary report from the Australian Transport Safety Bureau.

The ATSB released two preliminary reports on close calls at the airport. Neither makes findings or recommendations, and they are two of six investigations now under way.

The roster

The controller was rostered to finish at 8:50pm the night before and start again at 5:30am. The report says predicted fatigue does not mean a controller was necessarily fatigued. The controller described their own state as "fine and alert" and fit for duty. It also notes that Airservices Australia, which provides air traffic control at Sydney, has no fatigue management system approved by the Civil Aviation Safety Authority.

Airservices said it would review the findings once the investigations are complete.

Two incidents

On August 17, at about 9:40am, the controller told Virgin flight VA1589 to follow a Qantas aircraft and hold short of runway 25. The Virgin captain read back only the hold-short instruction, and the controller did not notice the incomplete read-back. The crew of Qantas flight QF420 stopped using normal braking as the Virgin jet crossed in front. The controller was removed from duty for the rest of the day and said equipment in the tower cab limited their view of the intersection.

On August 25, a controller cleared a Jetstar A320 to push back from bay 59 and, about 30 seconds later, cleared a QantasLink Dash 8 along the same taxiway. The Dash 8 crew saw the A320's tail moving backwards and stopped about 100 metres short, and the pushback was halted. That controller said they "felt fine" but had not had many days off in the past month.

Three controllers told the ATSB that pushbacks from some gates were prone to conflicts, because aircraft push straight onto an active taxiway rather than an apron. The tower shift manager and a supervising instructor said the area could be a "black spot" where aircraft were not always detected.

ATSB chief commissioner Angus Mitchell said both incidents were mitigated because flight crews and ground staff identified the conflicts and acted. Investigators have yet to determine whether staffing contributed to any of the six incidents.

Source: ABC News