Virgin pilot relayed warning on Chinese live fire drill after it started

Australian officials only learned of a live weapons drill by Chinese warships after a Virgin Airlines pilot passed on a radio warning he’d received 30 minutes after the exercise began.

The Chinese navy’s Zunyi destroyer is one of the ships belonging to a naval task force operating off Australia’s east coast. Picture: China Central Television

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Australian officials only learned of a live weapons drill by Chinese warships in the Tasman Sea after a Virgin Airlines pilot relayed a radio warning he’d received 30 minutes after the exercise began.

Aviation officials told a Senate estimates hearing on Monday night that almost 50 planes were forced to change their flight plans as a result of the exercise on Friday.

Airservices Australia chief executive Rob Sharp said the air traffic authority became aware of the danger to aircraft at 9.58am Friday (AEDT) after the Virgin pilot passed on the warning he had received while in the air.

“It was in fact a Virgin Australia aircraft that advised one of our air traffic controllers that a foreign warship was broadcasting that they were conducting live firing 300 nautical miles east off our coast,” Mr Sharp said.

“At 10am our air traffic control commenced what we call a ‘hazard alert’ which basically alerts all flights in the area that there’s a hazard, so that was done within two minutes.”

The revelation flies in the face of Beijing’s claims that the ships issued repeated safety warnings ahead of the drill, about 640km off the NSW coast.

Commercial flights were forced to change course to avoid the Chinese live fire drills. Picture: FlightAware

The Australian Defence Force revealed the three-vessel Chinese naval task group had moved further south and was operating in Australia’s exclusive economic zone, about 296km east of Hobart.

Airservices Australia’s deputy chief executive, Peter Curran, told the hearing that the Virgin pilot monitored radio transmissions directly from one of the Chinese warships on a frequency that was not monitored by air traffic controllers.

“We can’t hear what was said, so the pilot of the Virgin aircraft heard what was said from the Chinese vessel, relayed that back to air traffic control (who) then passed that through our system and started giving hazard alerting to all aircraft on the frequency,” Mr Curran said.

He said Airservices Australia contacted Defence’s Joint Operations Command just after 10am to advise of the situation, without knowing “whether it was a potential hoax or real”.

Mr Curran said 49 flights were diverted on Friday as a result of the exercise. It’s not known how many flights had to change course on Saturday as the warships conducted a second day of live-fire drills.

Anthony Albanese sidestepped a question on Tuesday on whether he was concerned Defence learned about the drills from a commercial airline pilot.

“The Australian Defence was certainly aware, and I’ve spoken with the Chief of the Defence Force about what has occurred. Australia has had frigates both monitoring by sea and by air of the presence in the region of these Chinese vessels,” the Prime Minister said.

The Albanese government lodged a diplomatic protest with Beijing over the drills, complaining at the lack of advance notice provided by the ships.

Sailors aboard HMAS Arunta monitor the People’s Liberation Army-Navy task group in the Tasman Sea. Picture: Defence

Defence Minister Richard Marles said the ADF would typically give 12 to 24 hours’ notice ahead of such drills, while Defence sources said they often gave 48 hours’ notice.

A New Zealand frigate was shadowing the Chinese ships on Friday when it observed one of the ships deploy a floating target and the ships move into a firing-drill formation. The target was recovered a short time later, and it was unclear whether any live rounds were fired.

Chinese Defence Ministry spokesman Wu Qian said on Sunday that the People’s Liberation Army had issued repeated safety alerts ahead of the drills and that his country was “strongly dissatisfied” with Australia’s response.

“China’s actions are in full compliance with international law and international practices, and will not affect aviation flight safety,” Mr Wu said.

“Australia, knowing this well, made unreasonable accusations against China and deliberately hyped it up. We are deeply surprised and strongly dissatisfied with this.”