Jetstar cleared over Melbourne airport collision

Jetstar has been cleared of any wrongdoing over a ground collision between a Jetstar and Virgin aircraft in Melbourne.

The transport safety investigator has cleared Jetstar of any wrongdoing when one of its Airbus A320s was involved in a ground collision with a Virgin Australia-operated Boeing 737 at Melbourne airport in 2013.

The incident occurred on August 10, 2013, when the Jetstar A320 was stationary near gate D2 at the airport. At the same time, a Boeing B737 operated by Virgin Australia was approved by air traffic control for a pushback near the gate.

The dispatcher for the Virgin plane thought the Jetstar A320 was on the gate and ordered the pushback. This resulted in the left wingtip of the Virgin plane to collide with the tail cone of the Jetstar plane, damaging
both aircraft. There were no injuries.

The ATSB found that the dispatcher for Virgin could not visually confirm the position of the Jetstar aircraft.

The ground staff followed the normal practice for a pushback but they did not allow for visual monitoring of the left side of the plane by using a wing walker.

This meant it was not possible for the dispatcher to identify the collision risk in time to prevent the collision.

Following the incident, Virgin has issued a local instruction to ground staff that now mandates the use of wing walkers from certain bays at Melbourne airport.