The instructor of LXH commented that he had sighted TAU and recognised it was going to cross their flight path. He believed that it was better to remain predictable by maintaining a standard circuit than to carry out any avoiding actions. He also stated that he wanted to keep TAU in sight, and that carrying out an avoiding action may have hindered this. The instructor was confident that TAU would miss LXH. Both pilots noted that there were a number of fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters operating in the circuit, and that, at times, it was busy on the Tower frequency. Safety message ATC provides visual flight rules (VFR) aircraft with traffic information on other VFR aircraft in Class D airspace, such as at Moorabbin, it is ultimately the pilot’s responsibility to sight and maintain separation. When operating in an area of high traffic density, it is crucial that pilots utilise both alerted and unalerted techniques. Also, pilots should be mindful that when the circuit area is busy, it is important to conform to the circuit pattern being employed at the time to ensure sufficient separation with preceding and following aircraft. Further information on the limitations of the principle is available at: Further information on Class D airspace and Moorabbin Airport, is available from the Civil Aviation Safety Authority at General details Occurrence details Primary occurrence Airprox type: Occurrence category: Serious incident Location: Moorabbin Airport, Victoria Latitude: S 37º 58.55' Longitude: E 145º 06.13' VH-LXH Manufacturer and Piper PA-28-161 model: Registration: VH-LXH Type of operation: Flying training Persons on board: Crew 2 Passengers Nil – – Injuries: Crew Nil Passengers Nil – – Damage: None VH-TAU Manufacturer and Piper PA-28-161 model:
The instructor of LXH commented that he had sighted TAU and recognised it was going to cross their flight path. He believed that it was better to remain predictable by maintaining a standard circuit than to carry out any avoiding actions. He also stated that he wanted to keep TAU in sight, and that carrying out an avoiding action may have hindered this. The instructor was confident that TAU would miss LXH. Both pilots noted that there were a number of fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters operating in the circuit, and that, at times, it was busy on the Tower frequency. Safety message ATC provides visual flight rules (VFR) aircraft with traffic information on other VFR aircraft in Class D airspace, such as at Moorabbin, it is ultimately the pilot’s responsibility to sight and maintain separation. When operating in an area of high traffic density, it is crucial that pilots utilise both alerted and unalerted techniques. Also, pilots should be mindful that when the circuit area is busy, it is important to conform to the circuit pattern being employed at the time to ensure sufficient separation with preceding and following aircraft. Further information on the limitations of the principle is available at: Further information on Class D airspace and Moorabbin Airport, is available from the Civil Aviation Safety Authority at General details Occurrence details Primary occurrence type: Airprox Occurrence category: Serious incident Location: Moorabbin Airport, Victoria Latitude: S 37º 58.55' Longitude: E 145º 06.13' VH-LXH Manufacturer and model: Piper PA-28-161 Registration: VH-LXH Type of operation: Flying training Persons on board: Crew – 2 Passengers – Nil Injuries: Crew – Nil Passengers – Nil Damage: None VH-TAU Manufacturer and model: Piper PA-28-161