Qantas planes too close over Adelaide

Two Qantas aircraft came too close to each other over the Great Australian Bight this afternoon, in an incident that is being investigated by aviation authorities.

An ATSB spokeswoman said the incident happened west of Adelaide at 12.15pm and involved a breach of the minimum distance planes are supposed to keep from each other. At the location the planes were in over the Great Australian Bight, aircraft are supposed to maintain a one-kilometre separation zone vertically and a five-nautical-mile separation zone horizontally, she said.
The spokeswoman said that Air Services Australia was investigating the incident, while ATSB was investigating whether a formal investigation was warranted on its part.
A spokesman for the Civil Aviation Safety Authority said one of the planes was flying from Sydney to Perth, the other in the reverse direction.