The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) has opened an investigation into a serious incident involving a TIGER AIRWAYS Airbus A320, yesterday, in Melbourne, Australia. The ATSB says the aircraft "descended to a level below the lowest safe altitude" during an instrument approach. Tiger Flight 5207 was on Domestic Service from Brisbane to Melbourne, and was on instrument approach to Melbourne at 9:02pm, when while turning onto the base leg, the Airbus descended to about 2000 feet, which is below the minimum altitude of 2500 feet. The Airbus did climb back up to 2500 feet, while turning onto final. The crew then continued to land without further incident. A Tigers Airways spokeswoman said the carrier had notifed the ATSB of the incident. "Tiger Airways is cooperating fully with the review. As the occurrence is currently under review by Tiger Airways and the appropriate authorities, it’s not appropriate for the Airline to comment further at this time," she said. "Safety underpins the operation at all times". According to one aviation analyst, the ATSB opened an investigation into an "operational occurance," which suggest that perhaps a error was made by Air Traffic Controllers. This is just the latest safely incident to beset the carrier. The Australian Civil Aviation Safety Authority challenged the Airline in March to "show cause" why its licence to fly should not be revoked. The heads of Tiger Airways have also been questioned about the matter by senators as part of a parliamentary inquiry into Airline safety and Pilot training.
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