Description

On 24 September 2015, a Boeing 737-400 (AP-BJR) being operated by Shaheen Air International on a passenger flight from Sharjah to Bacha Khan (Peshawar), Pakistan as SAI 791 began it's normal visibility night take-off from the taxiway parallel to the runway for which take-off clearance had been given. No obstructions were encountered and the taxiway was sufficiently long to allow the take-off to be successfully completed after ATC decided not to intervene.

Investigation

An Investigation was carried out by the UAE GCAA Air Accident Investigation Sector (AAIS) but there was a four day delay in the initial notification of the event to the AAIS. CVR data relevant to the event had not been preserved, although DFDR data was made available by the aircraft operator when requested. It was found that the statements provided by the air traffic controllers involved could not be supported by any relevant recordings and the flight crew maintained in their statements that their take-off had been made as cleared from the runway. Also, since the GPS position data recorded by the DFDR was derived data, it could not be used to determine the ground track of the aircraft, which was instead achieved by synchronising radio transmissions made by ATC and the aircraft with other recorded flight data.