- During scheduled passenger flight from Brisbane to Sydney, airliner was cleared for standard arrival for runway 34L at Sydney, which was operating runway 16L at the time.
- Error was not detected initially by flight crew, despite ATIS indicating 34L was not operating. It was also not detected by crew or controller during read-back or hear-back.
- Sydney Approach controller identified discrepancy and corrected clearance; aircraft landed 16L without incident.
- Incident is a reminder that verbal slips can happen at any time, and that pilots and controllers should seek verification when there is confusion or misunderstanding.
A mistakenly-issued standard instrument approach arrival clearance for the incorrect runway at Sydney Airport highlights the importance of pilots and air traffic controllers being alert to verbal slips and seeking verification when there is confusion, an ATSB investigation highlights.
On 19 October 2022, after a Virgin Australia Boeing 737-800 reached top of descent on a scheduled passenger flight from Brisbane to Sydney, the flight crew contacted air traffic control, advising they were maintaining flight level 340.
The enroute controller provided the flight crew a clearance to conduct a standard instrument arrival for a landing on runway 34L in Sydney. The flight crew then read back this clearance to the controller, including runway 34L.
This was despite runway 16L being operational at Sydney at the time, and information available to the crew via the automatic terminal information service (ATIS) indicating runways 16L and 16R were in operation for arrivals and departures.
The ATSB’s investigation of the incident found the incorrect clearance was verbally communicated, and not identified, likely due to momentary interference of related, coinciding information about the assigned flight level (FL 340) and the runway (34L).
“This error was not identified by the enroute air traffic controller or the flight crew during the read-back or hear-back,” ATSB Director Transport Safety Stuart Macleod said.
“However, the information entered into the air traffic management system was correct, and when the crew transferred to Sydney Approach, the approach controller identified the error and rectified it well before an undesirable state for landing had the opportunity to develop.”
Once the approach controller had established the correct runway clearance, the crew performed an uneventful landing on runway 16L.
Mr Macleod said the incident is a reminder to pilots and air traffic controllers that verbal slips can happen at any time, and are less likely to be detected when there is a high degree of similarity between the presentation of simultaneous, related information, while performing a familiar and repetitive action.
“Slips in verbal communication can pose a threat to safe operations if the content of the message is inaccurate, and then not identified during the read-back or hear back process.
“In this case, the read-back and hear-back procedure was the opportunity for both parties to detect the error before it propagated further.”
You can find here the report: Air traffic control error involving Boeing 737, VH-YFT, near Armidale, New South Wales on 19 October 2022
