A320, Macau SAR China, 2018 (2)

A320, Macau SAR China, 2018 (2)

Summary

On 12 November 2018, an Airbus A320 took off from Macau in good daylight visibility whilst a same-direction runway inspection was in progress but became airborne well before reaching it. The conflict was not recognised until an aural conflict alert was activated, at which point the ATC Assistant took the microphone and instructed the vehicle to clear the runway. The Investigation found that the TWR Controller had forgotten that the vehicle was still on the runway until alerted by the audible alarm and had not checked either the flight progress board or the surface radar before issuing the takeoff clearance.

Description

On 12 November 2018, the crew of an Airbus A320-200 (HS-BBO) being operated by Thai AirAsia on a scheduled international passenger flight from Macau to Bangkok as FD 763 commenced its takeoff from Macau in day VMC unaware that a vehicle was also on the runway. The conflict was detected by the TWR ATC Assistant who instructed the vehicle to clear the runway and it did so before the A320 reached its position.

Investigation

An Investigation was carried out by the Macau Civil Aviation Authority (AACM). Relevant ATC recorded radar and communications data and weather data were available.

It was noted that the TWR controller involved had held an aerodrome rating issued by the AACM for almost 12 years, the ATC supervisor on duty had held an aerodrome rating issued by the AACM for almost 20 years and had been a supervisor since 2007. The ATC Assistant had completed their training in 2009 and been employed in that role at Macau since then.

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