A combination of runway lighting issues and an unusual runway entry contributed to a Boeing 787 flight crew’s failure to identify the beginning of Gatwick Airport’s Runway 26R and the resulting takeoff from the displaced threshold rather than the beginning of the runway, the U.K. Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) says.
No one was injured in the March 28 event, and the 787 was not damaged, but the airplane’s performance did not meet regulatory requirements for either stopping the takeoff roll or continuing in case an engine failed near V1, the AAIB said in its report on the matter, released Thursday. “The risks in both cases were significant to the aircraft and its occupants,” the report said.
V1 is defined in regulations as “the maximum speed in the takeoff at which the pilot must take the first action (e.g., apply brakes, reduce thrust, deploy speed brakes) to stop the airplane within the accelerate-stop distance” and also as “the minimum speed…
