Updated
Planes landing at Melbourne Airport over the last two years may have faced a higher risk of mid-air collision because of a problem with safety rules.
Airservices Australia has admitted a "stuff-up" seems to have allowed pilots to land on intersecting runways at Tullamarine when winds were too high.
Independent senator Nick Xenophon grilled Airservices Australia (AA), which manages the nation's airspace, about the issue during a Senate hearing in Canberra.
He said it was "extraordinary" that it could happen and, AA conceded, "it appears to be inconsistent with our current safety management practices".
When Senator Xenophon described it as a stuff-up, AA's executive general manager for air traffic control Greg Hood replied: "That's the way it appears at the moment."
Melbourne Airport is one of three in Australia that has intersecting runways that can operate concurrently.
The practice is banned in most parts of the world, but permitted in Australia, the United States and Canada.
But there are strict conditions governing when a pilot is allowed to land on a runway that intersects another that is in use.
Cross winds have to be less than 20 knots and tail winds less than 5 knots.
Two years ago the rules at Melbourne Airport were changed and planes were permitted to land on the second, intersecting runway even when winds exceeded the normal limits.
The problem was identified when pilots contacted Senator Xenophon with concerns this could increase the risk of a mid-air collision if the planes using the crossed runways both had to abort their landings.
"It's not just one pilot, it's quite a few pilots who are particularly concerned," he said.
"They were really worried about it. They thought the risk of something going wrong in a go-around in those cross winds could have led to a mid-air collision."
Senator Xenophon demanded an explanation from AA in the parliamentary hearing.
"Pilots were landing beyond that buffer... in breach of your own rules... there were aircraft landing outside those safety parameters - yes or no?" asked Senator Xenophon.
"It's not a yes or no answer," replied Mr Hood.
Mr Hood said the current laws were not specific when it comes to the second, or "passive," runway in such a scenario.
But he told the committee the wind limits are now being strictly observed.
"I have taken immediate action to ensure that the procedure has been amended," he said.
He also told the committee AA was conducting a review into how the rules had been changed without any risk assesment or safety analysis being done.
"I'm as interested as you are as to how those rules came to be changed," he said.
That review is expected to be completed in the next three weeks.
Topics: air-and-space, federal-government, federal-parliament, melbourne-3000
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