Information was provided to the ATSB indicating that there was a breakdown of separation between two Australian registered Boeing Company 747 aircraft, in international airspace under the control of Honolulu Centre, on 16 January 2005.
The ATSB commenced a category 4 investigation to determine if safety was compromised. The ATSB subsequently received advice from the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) that the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) had investigated the circumstances of the report and found that appropriate separation standards, using radar control techniques, were applied at all times. There as no infringement of separation standards – the minimum longitudinal spacing between the aircraft was 47 NM.
Status: Downgraded the occurrence to category 5 and investigation discontinued.