Planes collide on tarmac at Melbourne Airport

[TonyHancock]

Most of that should buff out! :shock:

Nothing that bog and duct tape can't fix!

Thanks for the photos guys. Must admit the damage looks more serious than I thought it was going to be.:shock:

 

[ozbeachbabe]

I note that the VA aircraft was being pushed back, so under the "control" of the tug operator rather than the pilots. Though the pilots would have looked left/right before requesting the tug operator to commence.

I also note the report that teh JQ aircraft had no passengers on-board, so I assume it was being delivered to the gate by a tug. If that is the case then there would not have been any pilots on-board either, just an engineer.

So one for the ground handling companies to sort out regarding responsibilities. Not sure I would want to be the tug drivers explaining this to the boss.

Looking at the photos of the damage, it looks like the rear edge of the VA 737 wing tip has sliced through the tail-cone of the JQ A320.

Looking at the photos of the JQ A320 there are stairs attached to the rear of the aircraft so it looks like that aircraft was stationary at the time of the incident & only crew remained onboard after all passengers had recently disembarked from the inbound flight into MEL. I don't get the impression that it was being towed by an engineer at the time.

Was the VA aircraft being pushed back by an actual tug with a driver or was it being pushed back by a remote control tug operated by ground staff/contractors.

Do VA Engineers have anything to do with pushbacks eg walking beside the aircraft until the tug is disengaged or is it ground staff only?

 

[NM]

Looking at the photos of the JQ A320 there are stairs attached to the rear of the aircraft so it looks like that aircraft was stationary at the time of the incident & only crew remained onboard after all passengers had recently disembarked from the inbound flight into MEL. I don't get the impression that it was being towed by an engineer at the time.

Was the VA aircraft being pushed back by an actual tug with a driver or was it being pushed back by a remote control tug operated by ground staff/contractors.

Do VA Engineers have anything to do with pushbacks eg walking beside the aircraft until the tug is disengaged or is it ground staff only?

I know its not necessarily a reliable information source, but this is what I had read when I made my post:

“The incident involved an aircraft pushing back from its gate for departure, and an aircraft which was holding for a gate.”

Virgin and Jetstar planes collide at Melbourne Airport | News.com.au

I understood "holding for a gate" meaning it was waiting on the tarmac for a gate to be clear so it could approach that gate.

One aircraft was reversing out of Bay 1 and hit another plane, with the impact leaving debris on the tarmac.

Again I assumed that one aircraft being pushed back would not be in a position to hit an aircraft that was docked at a gate, but I could be making an incorrect assumption. I then assumed (perhaps wrongly) that if the JQ aircraft was not docked at a gate, and it had no passengers on board, that it must have been under tow by a tug. All just assumptions of course based on a media report, so quite possibly not accurate.

 

[markis10]

The JQ bird ferried down from Sydney empty as JQ7981 in preparation for operating the ZQN flight, my hypothesis is she was not docked to the aerobridge but was 5M off, as possibly the NIGS was not set for the A320, and there was no ground crew at the gate to fix it, the VA flight has been given pushback clearance from Gate 1 as the controller was not aware the JQ plane was still not at the gate.

The other scenario is the VA push back was way off, I find that unlikely but not impossible, given they use the robots with the walker on the starboard side in a lot of cases at Gate 1, however the walker would have been able to see the nosewheel guidance was off very easily regardless.

The location of the debris ( APU ) suggests the first scenario is highly probable, in which case ATC would be at fault to a large extent. When I worked in Melbourne tower, the apron was so far away that we had a surface movement controller based in a tower on top of the international area that controlled the apron (called a SMCA or smaca), I am not sure if its still used and if so, when its used.

 

[Melburnian1]

markis10, am I correct in suggesting that your hypothesis number one indicates that the airlines might both ask the Commonwealth of Australia to have its insurers cough up for almost all the damage bill to both aircraft?

Naturally all concerned would have to wait the usual 10 months or so for the ATSB to issue its report. It will be interesting if these matters are settled behind closed doors or whether (unusually in Australia) such a dispute ended up in the commercial courts, probably the Supreme Court of Victoria.

 

[Austman]

Mmmm. Unions not happy:

Investigation underway after Virgin plane clips Jetstar plane at Melbourne Airport - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

The aircraft engineers union is investigating whether staff cuts may have contributed to a plane accident on the Melbourne Airport tarmac.

The Australian Licensed Aircraft Engineers Association says it had raised safety concerns with Virgin Australia several times before today's mishap.

The wing of a Virgin plane clipped a Jetstar aircraft as it was being pushed back to get ready for take off about 9:30am.

No one was hurt during the incident.

The union says the damage bill could be between $2 million and $3 million.
Union president Paul Cousins says he believes the recent removal of engineers from the pushback procedure may have contributed to the accident.
"We certainly have spoken to Virgin on many occasions and many other airlines," he said.
"If you do remove them, then you are bringing inherent dangers.
"I would be surprised if the money they've saved by putting ramp staff in these particular positions has actually been saved by a collision that would be worth quite a few million dollars.
"The engineer certainly would have noticed that the aircraft was sitting behind with two engines running.
"It will be something we'll certainly be taking up with Virgin.
"Hopefully they'll be listening and we'll obviously be looking [to ensure] that licensed aircraft engineers would actually take up that role."

Virgin says it is investigating all circumstances surrounding the incident.

 

[JessicaTam]

With how un-commercial the ABC can be, I'm a little surprised they mentioned the names of the operators.

I don't see why not. The ABC weren't advertising them, just stating some factual information.

 

[mannej]

Spot the error...

Bravo no news bravo ...

 

[RooFlyer]

Mmmm. Unions not happy: <snip>

Excellent ...

 

[erkpod]

I don't see why not. The ABC weren't advertising them, just stating some factual information.

I don't know about the news side of things but on the sport side of things, they actively avoid mentions of sponsorships and the like. So instead of saying a game of AFL was at Eithad Stadium, they'll say it was at Docklands. I wonder what they do if a stadium has been only named after a sponsor.

It's not as bad as in America, though. A friend of mine told me he was watching an episode of COPS & they blurred the face of a dog that one of the people was holding.

 

[markis10]

Spot the error...View attachment 17815

Bravo no news bravo ...

What error????

 

[ozbeachbabe]

Spot the error...View attachment 17815

Bravo no news bravo ...

When did JQ get an A380?

 

[mannej]

What error????

I can't see the image but I am assuming its the JQ A380 image!

 

[markis10]

I can't see the image but I am assuming its the JQ A380 image!

Yes, maybe I should have put a warning, caution, the following contains an image that may offend some people LOL.

 

[JessicaTam]

Yes, maybe I should have put a warning, caution, the following contains an image that may offend some people LOL.

So how do I book JQ F?

 

[Slats7]

Since when did Jetstar have A380's hahaha.

It would be nice if the story was reported accurately.




A direct hit by a reversing Virgin aircraft on to the running auxiliary power unit at the rear of the Jetstar A380 might have caused spinning components to fly out of engine casings and the potential for fire, Australian Licensed Aircraft Engineers' Association president Paul Cousins said.

No Cookies | Herald Sun

 

[banger2]

Spot the error...View attachment 17815

Bravo no news bravo ...

Ahhh I see the problem.....they actually meant Jetstar B787

 

[NM]

The JQ bird ferried down from Sydney empty as JQ7981 in preparation for operating the ZQN flight, my hypothesis is she was not docked to the aerobridge but was 5M off, as possibly the NIGS was not set for the A320, and there was no ground crew at the gate to fix it, the VA flight has been given pushback clearance from Gate 1 as the controller was not aware the JQ plane was still not at the gate.

Thanks Mark. That would explain why no pax on board.

 

[UP4014]

With how un-commercial the ABC can be, I'm a little surprised they mentioned the names of the operators.

They are reporting facts, one plane was Virgin the other Jetstar, nothing more.

 

[mannej]

Ahhh I see the problem.....they actually meant Jetstar B787

You mean one of these!