Wake turbulence event involving a Bombardier Dash 8, VH-QOY at Sydney Airport, NSW on 7 May 2015

Section 21 (2) of the Transport Safety Investigation Act 2003 (TSI Act) empowers the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) to discontinue an investigation into a transport safety matter at any time. Section 21 (3) of the TSI Act requires the ATSB to publish a statement setting out the reasons for discontinuing an investigation.

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On 14 May 2015, the ATSB commenced an investigation into a reported wake turbulence event involving a Bombardier Dash 8, VH-QOY and operated by QantasLink at Sydney Airport, New South Wales, on 7 May 2015.

During runway 34 parallel runway operations at Sydney Airport, the Dash 8 aircraft on approach reportedly encountered wake turbulence from a preceding A330 aircraft. The Dash 8 aircraft commenced  uncommanded pitch and roll movements prior to being stabilised by the crew. A review of the flight data indicated that the bank angle was less than initially reported by the crew. No alerts or warnings were triggered in the aircraft (the bank angle did not exceed 30 degrees). As per standard operating procedures the crew conducted a go-around.

The ATSB did not identify any organisational or systemic issues that contributed to the incident and assessed that no safety issues would be identified through further investigation. On that basis, the ATSB has decided to discontinue its investigation.