Mr McClelland asked the Minister for Transport and Regional Development, upon notice, on 12 March 1998:

Did an incident occur at Sydney (Kingsford-Smith) Airport during the weekend of 28 February and 1 March 1998 in which an aircraft was forced to make an emergency landing as a result of engine failure; if so, (a) what were the circumstances of the incident, including the (i) type of aircraft involved, (ii) nature of the emergency, (iii) likely cause of the emergency and (iv) number of people in the aircraft, (b) was the aircraft (i) making a steep ascent, (ii) making a turn or (iii) over a residential area when the emergency occurred and (c) what steps have been taken to address the safety issues revealed by the incident.

Mr Vaile (Transport and Regional Development) —The answer to the honourable member's question is as follows:

(a) and (b) The Bureau of Air Safety Investigation (BASI) is investigating an incident which occurred on 28 February 1998 at approximately 12:47 Eastern Summer Time at Sydney (Kingsford-Smith) Airport. The aircraft involved was a Boeing 767 operating a domestic scheduled passenger service from Sydney to Cairns.

Shortly after take off from Sydney runway 16R, the aircraft's right engine malfunctioned. The crew requested a return to Sydney. Because of local showers, the aircraft was radar vectored for an ILS approach to runway 16R where it landed without further incident. The aircraft stopped on the taxiway and the right engine was shut down and inspected by fire tenders. There was no evidence of fire and the aircraft taxied back to the gate where the passengers disembarked normally. The investigation will examine all of the relevant contributing factors and safety issues associated with this incident and a copy of the investigation report will be provided to the honourable member as soon as it becomes publicly available.