Authorities found the two planes nearly struck construction workers shortly after take off at an airport where the runway had been temporarily shortened from 12,000ft to 6,853ft
Two planes that carried hundreds of passengers narrowly missed construction workers by just 14 feet, a report has said.
A Malaysia Airlines Airbus A330 “overran” the runway when it took off from Melbourne Airport on a flight bound for Kuala Lumpur, in Malaysia. But as it took off, it passed work vehicles by about seven feet.
A report by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) said the runway had been temporarily shortened for resurfacing works. It also found that just 11 days later, a Bambooo Airways Boeing 787 also overran the same runway during departure for Hanoi, Vietnam.
The plane passed by construction works by less than five feet. The ATSB said: “Both times jet blast impacted the works area where personnel and equipment were present.”
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The report said no one involved suffered any physical injuries in either instance. But one worker was said to have suffered a stress-related injury in the second incident.
According to the report, the runway was temporarily shortened from 12,000 feet to about 6,853. Staff on both aircraft had been notified about the change before their flights, the ATSB said.
People reported ATSB Chief Commissioner Angus Mitchell said: “Neither flight crew identified that the runway was significantly shortened, despite the relevant NOTAM being provided in their flight briefing packs. 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.”
The ATSB report said the temporary runway length was accounted for by each of the airline’s flight dispatcher before take off. It added this information was not “specifically highlighted” in the crews’ pre-flight briefings.
It added: “This was likely since each aircraft was able to safely depart from the reduced length runway if appropriate power settings were applied.” Airservices Australia and the Civil Aviation Safety Authority have since made changes to procedures and have aimed to provide “essential aerodrome information associated with runway works that reduce available runway lengths.”
The Mirror has contacted Malaysia Airlines and Bamboo Airways for comment.