A343, Auckland New Zealand, 2013

A343, Auckland New Zealand, 2013

Summary

On 18 May 2013 an Airbus A340 with the Captain acting as 'Pilot Flying' commenced its night take off from Auckland in good visibility on a fully lit runway without the crew recognising that it was lined up with the runway edge. After continuing ahead for approximately 1400 metres, the aircraft track was corrected and the take off completed. The incident was not reported to ATC and debris on the runway from broken edge lights was not discovered until a routine inspection almost three hours later. The Investigation concluded that following flights were put at risk by the failure to report.

Description

On 18 May 2013, an Airbus A340-300 (CC-CQF) being operated by LAN Airlines Chile on a scheduled international passenger flight from Auckland to Sydney commenced take off from Runway 23L at Auckland in good night visibility. The aircraft was aligned with the runway edge lights instead of the runway centreline lights and after approximately 1,400 meters it corrected onto the centreline and completed the take off without ATC awareness. ATC were not subsequently advised and damage to seven edge lights was not discovered until the next routine inspection nearly three hours later. After an uneventful flight, tyre damage to the aircraft was found and tyres replaced. There was no other damage and none of the 206 occupants were injured.

Investigation

The event was investigated by the New Zealand Transport Accident Investigation Commission (TAIC). Recorded airport video was used to identify which aircraft had damaged the edge lights. By the time the aircraft returned to Auckland, relevant CVR data had been overwritten because it had not been stopped. Relevant QAR data was supplied by the aircraft operator and ATC MLAT data and radio transmission recordings were also available.

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