How a Tigerair plane narrowly avoided dangerous runway overrun

A TIGERAIR flight narrowly avoided overrunning the runway at Cairns Airport after receiving clearance for takeoff from an intersection that was 403-metres short of where it needed to be.

An Australian Transport Safety Bureau investigation released today, revealed the A320’s captain was distracted by another aircraft and the cabin crew’s pre-flight preparations in the January 21 incident.

As a result the Brisbane-bound flight, taxied to intersection B4 instead of B5, as it awaited clearance for takeoff.

Air Traffic Controllers issued the clearance, but then quickly advised the captain the plane was at the wrong intersection.

The ATSB investigation found if the A320 had left from the B4 intersection, a rejected takeoff would have resulted in a potentially disastrous runway overrun.

In the US, runway overruns contributed to 680 fatalities between 1995 and 2007.

After the flight the captain contacted the ATC tower to thank the controller for intervening.

The report said he was advised a similar incident had happened the previous day, but the ATSB could find no record of that.

A lack of familiarity with the runway was found to be one of the possible contributing factors to the incident, along with the distractions of a Dash-8 aircraft in front of the Tigerair A320, and the cabin crew’s preparations.

“As the captain was busy liaising with the cabin crew as the aircraft turned onto B4, the likelihood that they would notice that the aircraft was approaching the runway on the incorrect taxiway was reduced,” noted the ATSB report.

In response to the incident, Tigerair distributed a Flight Training Notice to training and checking crew on the A320 and Boeing 737 fleets, the report said.

Tigerair communications manager Vanessa Regan said at no time was the safety of passengers or crew at risk.

“Tigerair Australia has robust safety and reporting procedures in place to ensure the highest standards are maintained at all times,” said Ms Regan.

“Tigerair provided full cooperation to the ATSB with their investigation.”

Runway overruns are relatively rare in Australia, with one such incident in the last year.

On December 6, a Virgin Australia 737 veered off the runway at Darwin Airport in gusty wind conditions.

The aircraft received minor damage but no-one on board was hurt.