Two airplanes carrying numerous passengers narrowly avoided construction workers by a mere 14 feet, as revealed in a recent report. A Malaysia Airlines Airbus A330 surpassed the runway limits during takeoff from Melbourne Airport en route to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, passing by maintenance vehicles at a close distance. This incident occurred due to the temporary shortening of the runway for resurfacing works, as reported by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB). Just 11 days later, a Bambooo Airways Boeing 787 also exceeded the same runway while departing for Hanoi, Vietnam, passing construction works by less than five feet. Fortunately, there were no physical injuries in either case, but one worker experienced a stress-related injury during the second incident.
The ATSB report highlighted that the runway was temporarily reduced from 12,000 feet to approximately 6,853 feet. Both flight crews were informed of this change before their flights, according to the ATSB. Despite receiving relevant information in their flight briefing packs, neither crew recognized the significantly shortened runway. Although they accessed the Air Traffic Information Services (ATIS) version mentioning the alteration, they only relayed the weather details to air traffic control, neglecting to mention the reduced runway length.
The ATSB emphasized that the temporary runway length was considered by each airline’s flight dispatcher before takeoff, but this crucial information was not prominently highlighted in the crews’ pre-flight briefings. The report concluded that both aircraft could safely depart from the reduced length runway with appropriate power settings. Following the incidents, Airservices Australia and the Civil Aviation Safety Authority have implemented procedural changes to ensure the provision of essential aerodrome information related to runway works that affect available runway lengths.
Inquiries have been made to Malaysia Airlines and Bamboo Airways for their comments on the matter.