Image: ATSB (from Aviation Occurrence Investigation Report AO-2023-043)
Flight crews on two passenger jets failed to realize that the takeoff runway at Melbourne Airport had been temporarily shortened by resurfacing work; both airplanes overran the temporary runway threshold, then flew as low as 16 ft above the closed section, displacing unserviceability lights and marking cones, the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) says.
In each of the 2023 incidents, the flight crew assumed that the full length of Runway 34 — 3,659 m (12,005 ft) was available, but the actual length of the available runway was 2,089 m (6,854 ft). In each case, the crew conducted a reduced-thrust takeoff, which continued beyond the shortened runway’s temporary end. No one was physically injured in the events, which involved a Malaysia Airlines Airbus A330-300 on Sept. 7 and a Bamboo Airways…
