A former baggage handler has pleaded guilty to making hoax calls to pilots and air traffic controllers, which resulted in a Virgin flight aborting its landing at Melbourne Airport last year.

Paul Sant, 20, admitted to making five unauthorised radio transmissions to Virgin, Jetstar and Qantas flights, as well as making a fake mayday call to air traffic controllers in which he purported to be the pilot of a light aircraft in distress.

The fake calls made by Sant last October had the potential to cause a major aviation incident, according to the Australian Federal Police.

The transmissions were eventually determined to be fake but treated seriously when they were first received by air traffic controllers.

All but one message advising pilots to abort their landing or take-off were ignored, except when a Virgin Airlines flight heeded Sant's advice to "go around", and aborted its landing to fly a loop of the airport.

One of Sant's friend's told police Sant had told him he was transmitting from the Sunbury lookout point near Melbourne Airport when he instructed the plane to pull out of its landing.

He told another friend the plane's wheels were down ready to land when he made the call and it had restricted them before going back into the air, according to court documents.

Radio equipment seized at hoax caller's home

Sant had worked as a baggage handler for Virgin Airlines and was responsible for transmitting to the airlines, according to the prosecution's summary of the case.

He was arrested last November at his parent's home in Rockbank, north-west of Melbourne, where police also seized a radio earpiece, connector and two small handheld radios.

According to police, Sant had told several friends he had thrown the radio transmitter into a lake at Caroline Springs.

He pleaded guilty to endangering the safety of an aircraft in flight and transmitting a false mayday call knowing it was likely to endanger the safety of another person.

Sant faces a maximum penalty of 20 years' jail.

He is currently on bail and, among other conditions, has been ordered not to go within two kilometres of an airport.

Sant will face a plea hearing in the County Court in February.