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Near-miss filmed above Melbourne Airport involving three jets blamed on cost-cutting

Two Qantas jets involved in a near-miss caught on film above Melbourne have sparked calls for an urgent safety review of the airport's intersecting runway system.

A Qantas jet passing beneath another Qantas jet at a distance less than one nautical mile above Melbourne Airport. Source: ABC
A Qantas jet passing beneath another Qantas jet at a distance less than one nautical mile above Melbourne Airport. Source: ABC

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Footage taken inside one of the Qantas jets in July last year shows one jet pass directly beneath another as the two planes were forced to abort their landings after an Emirate's plane was delayed taking off.

The two planes were said to pass less than one nautical mile (1,852 metres) apart – one third of the legal minimum distance.

The Qantas jets reportedly passed within one nautical mile of each other - one third of the mandated minimum distance. Source: ABC
The Qantas jets reportedly passed within one nautical mile of each other - one third of the mandated minimum distance. Source: ABC


One of the planes also breached the minimum altitude distance above the terminal.

Independent senator Nick Xenophon points the blame on the airport's intersecting runway system, which lowers costs by allowing for more planes to move through the airport.

The Emirates jet was delayed taking off. Source: 7 News
The Emirates jet was delayed taking off. Source: 7 News
The delayed take off forced the Qantas jets to abort their landings. Source 7 News
The delayed take off forced the Qantas jets to abort their landings. Source 7 News

"They were coming at each other at right angles and it was a close call," the senator told 7 News.

"This was a close call because we allow in this country intersecting runways to operate simultaneously."

The crossbencher said a number of pilots and air-traffic controllers contacted him about the matter and ongoing issues with the intersecting runways, but it still took four months for it to be addressed.

A delayed take off created the dangerous near-miss.
A delayed take off created the dangerous near-miss.
The Qantas jets passed within one nautical mile of each other.
The Qantas jets passed within one nautical mile of each other.

The Land and Hold Short Operations (LAHSO) system is banned in most countries but Melbourne Airport is one of three Australian airports to use cross-runways.

AirServices Australia, the Commonwealth body in charge of our skies, said about the near-miss that at "no stage was there a threat to passenger safety".

It added the LAHSO system is used at many major international airports, but Senator Xenophon said Melbourne should have parallel runways like Sydney.

LAHSO operations still run at Melbourne Airport in daylight hours but the near-miss – the second in five years – is being investigated by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau.

News break – February 7