Australia: Jetstar, Qatar Airways planes almost collide on Sydney Airport tarmac

Two passenger aircraft —  a Jetstar and a Qatar Airways plane —  came close to crashing into each other on the tarmac at Australia's busiest Sydney Airport on Sunday.

A crew member was injured and the incident has triggered a probe by the country's safety regulators.

The Jetstar A320 was taxiing for takeoff to the Gold Coast in the state of Queensland when its flight crew saw the Qatar Airways Boeing 777 —  which was being towed by an aircraft tug —  in close proximity on a crossing taxiway, the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) said in a statement.

"Both aircraft were stopped abruptly", the statement said, leading to a Jestar cabin crew member moving through the cabin being injured and the connection between the 777 nose gear and aircraft tug suffering damage.

The ATSB said that investigators were gathering data from both the planes, air traffic control, and interviewing crew and tug operators to determine the cause of the near collision.

The regulator put out a call for witnesses at the airport to send in any visuals of the incident.

Jetstar —  which is a low-cost subsidiary of  Australia's national carrier Qantas — said it was also conducting its own investigation.

"Our aircraft was following ⁠instructions ​by Air Traffic Control when the ​pilots were forced to brake firmly after another aircraft came in ​close proximity," a ‌Jetstar spokesperson said.