Fly Lah!

December 28, 2009 - 2:54PM

Aviation safety authorities are investigating how two passenger planes wound up on a collision course over the Northern Territory on Tuesday.

The two commercial flights were travelling on the same flight path and headed for one another before the situation was corrected early on Tuesday morning.

A mid-air collision was only avoided after the crew of a Cathay Pacific Airbus A330, travelling south to Melbourne from Hong Kong, questioned the air traffic controller, who confirmed there had been a breakdown of separation standards.

A Virgin Blue Boeing 737 was simultaneously headed north from Melbourne at the same height level of 37,000 feet.

The Airbus was told to climb an extra 1000 feet and divert its path slightly.

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau said the incident was serious and will prepare a report.

A bureau spokesman said it was unlikely the planes had been close to colliding, given neither of their automatic warning systems had been activated.

A final report should be completed by April, he said.

On 1 July 2002 a Tupolev Tu-154M passenger aircraft of Bashkirian Airlines collided in mid-air with a Boeing 757-200 cargo aircraft of express mail carrier DHL. The accident occurred above the town of Überlingen in Southern Germany, in German airspace assigned to skyguide’s control, and resulted in the loss of 71 lives.