Australian Transport Safety Bureau releases new report on ‘serious incident’ near Alice Springs Airport
The federal transport bureau has released its findings into a ‘serious incident’ near a Territory airport – and detailed the changes made in the wake of it. Find out what happened.
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A pilot’s close call with the MacDonnell Ranges has been labelled a “serious incident” and led to policy change, according to a newly released report.
The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) investigated the July 1, 2024 incident, with the Bureau releasing its findings on Friday.
The pilot was flying a Cessna 310R returning to Alice Springs from Willowra when they received “false indications” and “likely experienced spatial disorientation,” the report states.
The false indications came from the aircraft’s altitude indicator and directional gyroscope, the report states, which led to the pilot becoming distressed and flying on “an undesired flight path” when trying to land at Alice Springs Airport.
The pilot was not using autopilot during this period, according to the report.
“The aircraft deviated from the published approach path and tracked perpendicular to the approach track, below minimum sector altitude,” the report states.
“Recorded flight data indicated that during this time, the aircraft was below the minimum sector altitude of 4,300ft and tracking towards rising terrain. The aircraft came within its closest proximity to terrain as it passed the ridge line at about 810ft above ground level.”
This near miss happened about 14km west-to-north-west of Alice Springs Airport, the report states, where the East MacDonnell Ranges are.
The pilot was able to correct and get to the right altitude before they made a successful landing at Alice Springs Airport uninjured.
In the investigation, the Bureau found the pilot did not broadcast the correct distress signal – known as a PAN PAN signal – nor did air traffic control issue a safety alert.
Little was mentioned about the pilot in the report, but the report said they held a valid commercial pilot’s licence, had a valid class one aviation medical certificate, and also had 386 hours of flight time.
About 66 of those hours were in a Cessna 310, but no mention was made as to when the pilot obtained their licenses.
Only the pilot was on board the plane when the incident occurred.
The pilot was flying with Avcharter, which has since changed its policy in the wake of what happened.
“The operator has since introduced an automation policy for the use of autopilot in instrument meteorological conditions and in high workload single-pilot operations,” the report states.
The report said pilots “should not hesitate to report an urgent condition when encountering situations that may not be immediately perilous but significantly increase risk”.
“Air traffic control has a duty of care to provide safety alerts to pilots on becoming aware that an unsafe situation such as proximity to terrain has, or may, occur,” the report said.
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Originally published as Australian Transport Safety Bureau releases new report on ‘serious incident’ near Alice Springs Airport
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