There could be a bit more to this than we are allowing, based on the following additional detail from
The Australian:
Quote:
The ESIR indicated the declaring of uncontrolled airspace on Saturday caused confusion among pilots of several aircraft.
The worst of these was when the pilot of an American-registered Learjet flying from Wollongong in NSW to Melbourne baulked at climbing up into uncontrolled airspace despite being cleared to do so. The report says the pilot failed to climb "apparently due to uncertainty with proximity traffic" in uncontrolled airspace.
As a result, the plane stayed on its course at 24,000ft, which caused it to veer into a different controlled airspace near Canberra. This alarmed controllers because Jetstar flight 720 from Hobart to Sydney was heading north at the same height, and time, through that sector.
The incident report says the Learjet was "briefly uncontactable" because the pilot was on a different frequency and that the controller was "concerned" about the risk to northbound air traffic, especially JS720.
"The two aircraft passed within 15 nautical miles abeam of each other southwest of Canberra," the ESIR said.
Mr Mason said yesterday; "Aeroplanes passing 15 miles apart may seem like a lot ... but they are travelling so fast that in some scenarios there can be less than 60 seconds to react and avoid an accident. This incident is a clear example that the current system related to (uncontrolled airspace) has an unacceptable safety level."
However, an Airservices spokesman said the 15nm separation was three times the required limit in that sector. A spokeswoman for Jetstar said the airline had not been notified about the ESIR.
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What we are not told is what awareness of each other the Learjet and JQ720 had so we don't know whether the 15 nm of separation was planned or adventitious. If the Learjet did not climb into uncontrolled airspace, it follows that it remained in controlled airspace, so that at least one of the two a/c was aware of the other. At worst there was a brief period where the Learjet was not in communication with the controller of the airspace it was in. To my mind that was not the result of there being uncontrolled airspace above - it was the result of being on the wrong frequency for the controlled airspace it was in.