Aircraft Passes 56 Feet From Vehicle On Runway

A 737 operated by the UK's Excel Airways missed a vehicle on the runway it was using by only 56 feet according to an official report released Friday from the country's Air Accident Investigation Branch (AAIB).

The flight was departing Manchester bound for the Greek island of Kos with 190 passengers aboard in July 2003. The pilots were unaware the runway they were using was operating at a reduced length to allow for a team removing rubber deposits at the departure end.

The reports says the pilots couldn't see the opposite end of the runway because of a slight rise in the middle. It wasn't until the aircraft cleared the rise that the pilot saw the vehicles at the far end. By that time it was too late to abort the takeoff. The pilots believed they cleared the vehicles with a good margin.

The report found the crew were unaware of the reduced runway length available and irregularities with the way the airport and ATC handled disseminating information.

In fact, a day earlier, ATC directed three separate airliners to go around after clearing them to land on the same runway. When asked, none of the three crews were aware of the rubber-removal operation, or the reduced runway available. After telling the tower they couldn't accept a landing under the conditions, they were told to go around and assigned another runway.

AAIB says while the aircrew was clearly at fault, procedures for planning and managing future runway maintenance activities were altered to address concerns the agency expressed to both the operators of Manchester Airport and the National Air Traffic Service.

The primary cause of the near-disaster according to the AAIB was the flight crew did not realize the runway was operating at reduced length despite being in possession of a NOTAM concerning the work-in-progress, an ATIS broadcast relating to the work-in-progress and ATC passing information on the takeoff distance available.

FMI: www.aaib.dft.gov.uk