Description

On 30 May 2007, at about 0555 hours local time, the crew of an Airbus A340-300 had to apply TOGA (Take-off Go Around) power and rotate abruptly at a high rate to become airborne while taking off from Runway 20C at Singapore Changi Airport, when they noticed the centreline lights were indicating the impending end of the available runway. The crew had calculated the take-off performance based on the full TORA (Take-off Run Available) of 4,000 m because they were unaware of the temporary shortening of Runway 20C to 2,500 m due to resurfacing works.

The Investigation

An Investigation into this Serious Incident was carried out by the Singapore AAIB. This found that the Airport Operator risk assessment had identified risk scenarios associated with the work in progress on Runway 20C which included that pilots may think that the runway was still operating at 4,000m or that an aircraft may overrun the shortened runway into the runway resurfacing work area. To mitigate these hazards, the airport operator: