Virgin pilot alerted Australia to China navy live fire drill

CANBERRA – Australia was unaware Chinese warships were set to conduct live fire exercises off its east coast until its security authorities were alerted via a Virgin Australia pilot who heard radio communications about the drills, according to a top air traffic official.

As Beijing and Canberra trade accusations over last week’s military exercises, Mr Rob Sharp, chief executive officer of Airservices Australia, told a Senate hearing late on Feb 24 that his organisation only became aware of the drills shortly before they began.

One of the group’s air traffic controllers was informed by a Virgin pilot, he said.

“That’s how we first found out,” Mr Sharp told a parliamentary panel.

The pilot relayed to the Australian controller on the morning of Feb 21 that “a foreign warship was broadcasting that they were conducting live firing 300 nautical miles east off our coast.”

After it was notified, Airservices Australia issued a hazard alert within two minutes to all commercial pilots flying across the Tasman Sea, Mr Sharp said.

Shortly after that, Australia’s Department of Defence was notified.

In total, 49 flights diverted around the area of the live fire drills and planes continued to avoid the area over the course of the weekend, Airservices Australia said.

Australia’s Defence Department said in a statement that the three Chinese warships had re-entered the nation’s exclusive economic zone on Feb 25 morning.

The vessels were about 160 nautical miles east of Hobart, near Australia’s southern-most state of Tasmania, it said.

The three Chinese warships undertook the highly unusual drills in international waters between Australia’s heavily populated east coast and New Zealand’s west coast on Feb 21, drawing strong reactions from officials in both Canberra and Wellington.

While Australia’s government criticised the lack of notice given in advance of the live fire drills, Chinese