Jet flies off despite being hit by piece of runway at Aberdeen Airport
17.06.07
A chunk of asphalt from the Aberdeen Airport runway lifted and smashed into a plane carrying 149 passengers as it prepared to take off, a report released on Friday revealed. The Air Accident Investigation Branch (AAIB) report said the incident could have forced the Boeing 737 off the runway at Aberdeen Airport, however, the plane carried on and successfully took off.
The British Airways operated aircraft was revving up ahead of take-off when its engines dislodged material from a blast pad - an area at the end of the runway - which hit the plane's tailplane and elevator. The BA crew were unaware of the damage to the aircraft, but the pilot on the plane queued behind saw the incident and reported it to Air Traffic control.
The plane was allowed to continue on its route to Gatwick Airport. However, when it arrived at the destination, a routine engineering inspection revealed that there was 'considerable damage' to the tail of the plane. Engineers discovered an 8ft dent on the underside of a tailplane, with parts of the skin torn and some ribs buckled.
The report estimated that the plane had been hit by a chunk of asphalt two-and-a-half inches thick, around 7ft by 10ft. Damaged bits of the elevator were discovered 132 metres from the runway at Aberdeen Airport where it had taken off on July 8, 2005.
The incident resulted in temporary repairs to the runway, followed by complete replacement of blast pads at both ends strong enough to withstand being run over by the largest type of aircraft that lands at Aberdeen Airport. The report said this should prevent a recurrence.
The AAIB made a series of recommendations, including a call on the Civil Aviation Authority to require that blast pads be designed so they cannot be damaged by suction from engines. And BA was told to review training for take-off techniques.
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