Transport watchdog investigates third near miss at Sydney airport

Series of close calls under investigation

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau is investigating multiple near collisions at Sydney Airport that have occurred since late July, according to reporting by The Guardian and the NZ Herald. The incidents have intensified scrutiny of air-traffic controller staffing levels at the country’s busiest airport and of recent changes to Sydney Basin airspace procedures.

On Sunday 9 August, Virgin Australia flight VA555, bound for Perth, was forced to abort its take-off when Qantas flight QF728, heading to Ayers Rock, began crossing the runway ahead of it. Both aircraft were Boeing 737s. The ATSB said the Qantas crew reported having received clearance from air traffic control to cross, while the Virgin crew saw the movement, reduced thrust and brought their aircraft to a stop. The Guardian reported this as the second runway incursion under investigation and the third safety incident at the airport in less than three weeks.

Hours earlier the same morning, a Jetstar aircraft narrowly avoided a collision on the tarmac with a Qatar Airways jet that was under tow. The NZ Herald reported that the Jetstar crew spotted the other aircraft at the last moment by visual observation and that one cabin crew member was injured. About a week before those events, two Qantas planes taxiing toward each other both reported they had received clearance to proceed, an episode the ATSB also began examining after it was disclosed on a Friday. A further near miss on 27 July involved a Qantas flight cleared to cross a runway in front of another Qantas aircraft that had just landed.

The Japan Times and the South China Morning Post described the pattern more broadly as including a passenger jet aborting take-off because another plane was in its path and a taxiing aircraft slamming on its brakes to avoid a collision. Multiple outlets characterised the airport as having recorded at least four near misses in roughly a month. The ATSB is investigating all of the incidents.

Staffing pressures and workforce background

Airservices Australia, the government-owned organisation that manages the country’s airspace, has linked delays at Sydney to a shortage of controllers. A spokesperson told The Guardian that safety remains the organisation’s top priority and that it is working with the ATSB and other stakeholders. Airservices chief executive Rob Sharp has issued a public apology over flight delays, according to the NZ Herald, and said the agency is building a larger standby pool and is in full recruitment mode.

The NZ Herald reported that about 450 employees took voluntary redundancy from Airservices in 2021 and 2022, drawing on the organisation’s filings. By the end of June 2025 the agency had just over 1,000 full-time controllers and added 109 more in the following twelve months. New recruits face an aptitude test and an 18-month training course in Melbourne, The Guardian noted. Training takes years, several sources emphasised, while flight demand continues to grow. Aviation training provider CAE has forecast that more than 70,000 new controllers will be needed globally by 2034, a figure carried by the NZ Herald, the South China Morning Post and The Japan Times.

Civil Air, the controllers’ union, has described the workforce as short-staffed and exhausted. President Scott Nugent told the NZ Herald there simply are not enough people, that controllers sometimes work ten days straight, and that on some days 20 percent of rostered shifts are already vacant before sick calls. Skill-mix constraints and heavy reliance on overtime compound the pressure, he said. Andrew Marshall, president of the Australian and International Pilots Association, told the South China Morning Post and The Japan Times that staffing levels are not at the required level and that while pilots serve as the last line of defence, that is not an appropriate long-term solution.

Ian Douglas, a senior lecturer in aviation at UNSW Sydney, observed that Airservices may have let too many experienced controllers leave, adding that controllers cannot be created out of thin air. The organisation also faces additional workload from the new Western Sydney Airport and its recent takeover of airspace management at Ballina in northern New South Wales, The Guardian reported.

Airspace redesign and whistleblower concerns

New airspace rules for the Sydney Basin took effect on 9 July. The Guardian reported that an experienced controller lodged a confidential complaint in June, later considered by the ATSB, warning of grave concerns about changes related to Western Sydney International Airport. The complainant said the changes had been rushed, training for controllers of all experience levels was inadequate, and a large group of Sydney controllers shared those worries. Controllers were expected to absorb roughly 1,000 pages of new material without an adequate timetable, the whistleblower stated, and had minimal confidence in their ability to manage the new procedures under normal traffic.

The NZ Herald and The Guardian both noted that the complaint drew a comparison with warnings from controllers near Washington in the months before a mid-air collision in January 2025 that killed 67 people. The Guardian added that the United States government later acknowledged roles for the Federal Aviation Administration and the army in that crash.

The Sydney Terminal Control Unit responded that the complainant might not be fully aware of all safety work under way, that new manuals and procedures had been approved, and that extra supervision and restrictions on new controllers were planned. The Civil Aviation Safety Authority told the ATSB it was satisfied Airservices had implemented appropriate training, procedures and operational support. A ministerial spokesperson said CASA’s response was appropriate.

Official responses and longer-term measures

Federal transport minister Catherine King met Airservices chief executive Rob Sharp in Canberra and described the disruptions at Sydney as unacceptable, according to The Guardian. She expressed confidence that Airservices was acting, pointed to rostering changes, and said 95 additional controllers were expected to be endorsed by the end of the year. King also said improved rostering practices would begin in September, a new simulator had been installed in Sydney to expand training capacity, six controllers were currently in training, and another 15 were expected to start before the end of 2027.

Airlines for Australia and New Zealand chief executive Stephen Beckett told the NZ Herald that the problem needs to be fixed. The International Air Transport Association has estimated that air-traffic control delays cost U.S. carriers almost US$11 billion between 2015 and 2025 and that European air-traffic management delays cost airlines and passengers €17.5 billion over the same period, figures reported by the NZ Herald.

Ugur Turhan, a trained controller and aviation lecturer at UNSW Canberra, told the NZ Herald that artificial intelligence could eventually assist with routine tasks such as aircraft parking, conflict avoidance on runways and taxiways, and drone coordination. He cited an AI camera system at Hong Kong airport as one example, while noting that such systems will require years of testing and that human controllers will remain essential for the foreseeable future. Short-staffed towers have long been a global issue; several outlets described Australia as a particularly visible recent case, with the incidents adding pressure for both faster hiring and careful evaluation of new tools.

Perspectives

Airservices Australia maintains that safety is its highest priority, is cooperating with the ATSB investigations, and is expanding recruitment and standby capacity after its chief executive publicly apologised for delays.

Federal transport minister Catherine King has called the disruptions unacceptable while expressing confidence in Airservices’ response, citing rostering reforms, a new simulator and a pipeline of additional controllers.

Civil Air and its president Scott Nugent emphasise chronic under-staffing, exhausting rosters and vacant shifts, arguing that recruitment alone will not immediately solve the shortfall.

The confidential controller complaint, relayed through the ATSB process, warns that rushed airspace changes tied to Western Sydney Airport, combined with existing shortages, have left many Sydney controllers with grave safety concerns and insufficient training time.

The Civil Aviation Safety Authority has stated it is satisfied with the training, procedures and support arrangements Airservices has put in place.

Pilots’ representatives, including Andrew Marshall of the Australian and International Pilots Association, stress that current staffing is inadequate and that reliance on flight crews as the final safety barrier is not a sustainable long-term approach.