NEED TO KNOW
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Two planes carrying more than 200 passengers each narrowly missed an active construction site by just a few feet after taking off on a shortened runway at Melbourne Airport
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On Sept. 7, 2023, a Malaysia Airlines Airbus A330 “overran” the runway while taking off from Melbourne Airport for Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, passing work vehicles by just seven feet. 11 days later, a Bamboo Airways Boeing 787 overran the same runway again as it departed from the airport on its way to Hanoi, Vietnam
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“Both times jet blast impacted the works area where personnel and equipment were present,” the Australian Transport Safety Bureau said. No one was physically injured in either incident, though one worker did suffer a stress-related injury in the second incident, according to reports
Two planes carrying more than 200 passengers each narrowly missed an active construction site by just a few feet after taking off on a shortened runway at Melbourne Airport.
On Sept. 7, 2023, a Malaysia Airlines Airbus A330 “overran” the runway while taking off from Melbourne Airport for Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, passing work vehicles by just seven feet. The runway had been temporarily shortened for resurfacing works, the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) has shared in a report.
11 days later, a Bamboo Airways Boeing 787 overran the same runway again as it departed from the airport on its way to Hanoi, Vietnam. The aircraft passed construction works by less than five feet, according to the ATSB.
“Both times jet blast impacted the works area where personnel and equipment were present,” the ATSB said. No one was physically injured in either incident, though one worker did suffer a stress-related injury in the second incident, according to reports.
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Melbourne Airport
The runway had been temporarily shortened from roughly 12,000 feet in length to roughly 6,853 feet of tarmac available at the time. The ATSB stated that flight staff on both aircraft had been notified of the shortened runway before departing through notices to airmen and on radio broadcasts.
“Neither flight crew identified that the runway was significantly shortened, despite the relevant NOTAM being provided in their flight briefing packs,” ATSB Chief Commissioner Angus Mitchell said.
The commissioner added, “And while both crews accessed a version of the ATIS that mentioned the shortened runway, they only noted to air traffic control the weather information from the ATIS, and not the reduced runway length.”
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A Bamboo Airways Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner
The ATSB noted in its report that the reduced runway length was accounted for by each airline’s flight dispatcher ahead of taking off, but this information was not “specifically highlighted” in the flight crews’ pre-flight briefing packages.
“This was likely since each aircraft was able to safely depart from the reduced length runway if appropriate power settings were applied,” the organization said.
Following an investigation of the incidents conducted by the ATSB, Airservices Australia and the Civil Aviation Safety Authority have implemented changes to air traffic control procedures of providing “essential aerodrome information associated with runway works that reduce available runway lengths.”
PEOPLE reached out to Malaysia Airlines, Bamboo Airways and Melbourne Airport for comment, but they did not immediately respond.
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