Safety issue
| Safety issue description |
The Manual of Air Traffic Services did not explicitly state that sequencing instructions were required to be read back by a pilot, providing no assurance that this safety-critical aspect had been correctly understood. |
|---|---|
| Issue number | AO-2025-033-SI-01 |
| Issue owner | Airservices Australia |
| Transport function | Airspace |
| Issue status | Open – Safety action pending |
| Date issue released | 04/12/2025 |
| Issue status justification |
Airservices Australia advised that the Air Traffic Management Standards and Senior Air Traffic Services Specialists conducted a review, and will investigate a change to Manual of Air Traffic Services (MATS) 9.2.2.13.2 and the respective Aeronautical Information Publication (AIP) reference (GEN 3.4 – 37) to include the instruction ‘follow’ in the list of items requiring readback. |
Safety action
| Action type | Proactive action |
|---|---|
| Action number | AO-2025-033-PSA-01 |
| Organisation | Airservices Australia |
| Action description |
Airservices Australia advised that the Air Traffic Management Standards and Senior Air Traffic Services Specialists conducted a review, and will investigate a change to Manual of Air Traffic Services (MATS) 9.2.2.13.2 and the respective Aeronautical Information Publication (AIP) reference (GEN 3.4 – 37) to include the instruction ‘follow’ in the list of items requiring readback. |
| ATSB response |
The ATSB welcomes the changes that Airservices Australia proposes to make to MATS and the AIP. As no timeframe for this change was provided, the ATSB will monitor this safety issue until the changes are made. |
| Action status | Monitor |
Organisation response
| Date received | 20/08/2026 |
|---|---|
| Organisation | Airservices Australia |
| Response text |
On 20 August 2026, Airservices advised the ATSB that this review had led to a decision to implement a change to MATS 9.2.2.13.2 and the respective AIP reference (GEN 3.4) to include the instruction ‘follow’ in the list of items requiring readback. These changes are expected to be implemented on 26 November 2026. |
Organisation response
| Date received | 17/09/2026 |
|---|---|
| Organisation | Airservices Australia |
| Response text |
The progress for documentation with AIP and MATS changes are approved for publication on the 26 November AIRAC date. These changes include wording on the required readbacks to safety-related items (which includes the follow instruction). A Directive internally to ATC and an external AIC are planned as part of the change prior to publication in November. |
| ATSB response |
The ATSB welcomes the advice that the changes will be made to MATS and the AIP and is satisfied that when this is implemented it will close the Safety Issue. |
| ATSB response date | 17/09/2026 |