The Australian Transport Safety Bureau says the aircraft "descended to a level below the lowest safe altitude" during an instrument approach.

The Airbus A320 had flown from Brisbane. The incident occurred at 9.02pm.

It is not known at this stage how far the aircraft breached the minimum safe altitude on approach, or whether the automatic electronic warnings of low altitude were triggered in the cockpit.

There were no injuries, the bureau said.

Tiger Airways spokeswoman Vanessa Regan said the airline had reported an incident on last night’s Flight TT 5207, which had about 150 passengers on board, and was undertaking its own inquiries as well.

‘‘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.’’

Webtrack, an online flight tracker by Airservices Australia (the nation’s air traffic control regulator), shows at the time of the incident the Tiger plane had descended to 2201 feet over Epping.

Minutes later, subsequent planes from other airlines on similar flight paths  appear over the same locations about 1000 feet higher, Webtrack’s flight tracker shows.

It is the latest safety drama to beset the low-cost airline, after the Civil Aviation Safety Authority challenged the airline in March to "show cause" why its licence to fly should not be revoked.

The airline's chiefs have been quizzed about the matter by senators as part of a parliamentary inquiry into airline safety and pilot training.