Two passenger planes only narrowly avoided colliding with construction vehicles and workers during takeoff at Melbourne airport in 2023, in one case by less than five metres, because the flight crews were unaware the runway was nearly 1,600m shorter than usual, an Australian safety investigation has found.
The incidents, described as “terrifying” for workers on the ground, have prompted changes to domestic and international practices on notifying flight crews about critical safety information to reduce the potential for human error in takeoff.
