Planes narrowly avoided collision at Melbourne airport after runway shortened, report finds
Two planes almost collide with workers at major airport
- Two passenger planes narrowly avoided colliding with construction workers and vehicles at Melbourne Airport in 2023 due to pilots being unaware of a temporarily shortened runway.
- The incidents involved a Malaysia Airlines Airbus A330-300 on 7 September and a Bamboo Airways Boeing 787-9 just 11 days later, both overrunning the runway by metres.
- An Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) report found that airline dispatchers included the reduced runway length in calculations but failed to highlight it to the flight crews.
- Pilots used reduced-thrust take-offs, mistakenly assuming the full runway was available, which the ATSB described as a 'critical misunderstanding'.
- Following these 'serious incidents', the Civil Aviation Safety Authority has proposed changes requiring air traffic control to more directly confirm pilots' awareness of critical runway conditions.
Bookmark popover
Removed from bookmarks