Arabic version: إيقاف عاملين مؤقتًا عن العمل بعد حادث اقتراب خطير في سيدني

According to The Guardian, two workers were temporarily stood down following a near miss between two planes at Sydney airport on Sunday. Federal transport minister Catherine King said the stand-downs were required under protocols for mandatory alcohol and drug testing and lasted only a “short period of time”.

King said she was “confident” Airservices Australia was doing “everything that they can to get on top of this” after meeting with the organisation. She said the response included better rostering, after unplanned leave due to illness in Sydney over the weekend.

The minister praised air traffic controllers, describing their work as stressful and difficult. She said they had done a very good job over the weekend in trying to manage disruptions, and said they should have as much support as possible in performing the complex role.

King said her meeting with Airservices Australia was an important step in assuring herself that its actions were the right thing for air traffic controllers and the travelling public. The incident prompted her earlier criticism, with the live updates reporting that the federal transport minister was “not happy” after the near miss.