Fed: Govt says claims of near miss are horrendous

AAP General News (Australia)
12-04-2003
Fed: Govt says claims of near miss are horrendous

A union's been accused of scaremongering over claims that a plane was within 20 seconds
of a mid-air disaster near Melbourne.

Transport Minister JOHN ANDERSON says the claim is horrendous.

He says it was simply one of more than 60 incidents since new airspace rules took effect
last week.

He says they are all routinely reported to the Australian Transport Safety Bureau.

Virgin flight DJ980 from the Gold Coast to Melbourne was believed to be 20 seconds
from colliding with a twin-engine Cessna when an alarm was triggered yesterday as it was
descending north-west of Melbourne.

Mr ANDERSON said he can't guarantee there will never be a mid-air crash.

But he says the government wouldn't have implemented the new system last Thursday if
it didn't believe it was safe.

AAP RTV sal/sb/rt

KEYWORD: AIRSPACE ANDERSON (CANBERRA) WITH AUDIO

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