Australia’s crash investigator is examining a serious runway incursion at Perth Airport involving two Qantas 737s that forced one of the planes to abort its take-off.
The braking on the 737 that just landed on April 28 was so severe that passengers bumped their heads on the seats in front, according to frequent flyer Kylie Jenkins.
“We had just landed and were taxiing off the runway when I could see another Qantas plane taking off very close by and coming toward us and suddenly the brakes were applied and my daughter Malia bumped her head on the seat in front,” said Mrs. Jenkins.
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Flight QF 567 from Sydney landed on runway 03 in the northerly direction and was told to exit the runway at taxiway Juliet 2 and then hold short of 06 before crossing it and proceeding to the terminal.
As it exited runway 03 at 2.42pm, air traffic control gave QF 582 flying to Sydney take-off clearance on runway 06 in an easterly direction.
But 20 seconds later the pilots of QF567 didn’t stop as requested and appeared to be moving to cross runway 06 into the path of the other 737.
The air traffic controller told the pilots of Sydney bound QF582 to “stop immediately, stop immediately, runway incursion ahead” and the pilots aborted the take-off.
A second later the controller tells the pilots of QF567 “you have crossed a stop bar and runway incursion – hold position.”
Mrs. Jenkins said there was no announcement from the pilots of flight QF567.
“We were stunned, most of the passengers on the left side of the plane all saw it.”
The area where the incident occurred is annotated on the En Route Supplement Australia (ERSA) as a runway incursion “hot spot”.
The Australian Transport Safety Bureau says that the holding point on taxiway Juliet 2 prior to runway 06 is marked with a runway stop bar.
However at 2.40pm in the afternoon the sun could have blinded the pilots as their 737 would have been pointed directly at its position at that time of day.
As part of the investigation, the ATSB said it will “interview the flight crews and controllers on duty in the Perth control tower, examine recorded data from both aircraft and radar, review recorded communications between the flight crews and air traffic control, and gather other relevant information.
It added that “should a critical safety issue be identified during the course of the investigation, the ATSB will immediately notify relevant parties so appropriate safety action can be taken.”
