A Boeing 737 and a Cessna Caravan came within 700 ft vertically and less than a mile horizontally near Ballina (New South Wales, Australia) Byron Gateway Airport, in part because the Caravan pilot had “an incorrect mental model of the traffic situation” and the 737 crew missed the Caravan’s early radio calls, the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) says.
Accident/Incident Investigation, News
Faulty Mental Model
The ATSB says a pilot’s mistaken belief that an approaching 737 would land behind his Caravan was a factor in a separation occurrence.