Description

On 3 March 2021, a Boeing 737-800 (PH-BCD) being operated by KLM on a scheduled international passenger flight from Lisbon to Amsterdam as KL1696 only became airborne approximately 284 metres before the end of the 3705 metre-long runway 21 at Lisbon during its daylight takeoff in normal visibility. The remainder of the flight was then without further event.  

Investigation

The flight crew involved did not report the event to KLM at all and it was only discovered during the routine OFDM process and an internal investigation only began six weeks after the event had occurred following its inclusion in a monthly FDM report. When questioned during this investigation, the crew claimed to have been unaware that anything reportable had occurred despite the fact that the takeoff involved had occurred in good daylight visibility. 

Once the operator had informed the Gabinete de Prevenção e Investigação de Acidentes com Aeronaves e de Acidentes Ferroviários (GPIAAF) of the event on 29 April, almost two months after it had occurred, an event evaluation process was followed with the assistance of the operator. This led to the conclusion that there had been “a high probability of an accident occurring”. However, given the repetitive nature of similar events at Lisbon involving both KLM and other operators and continuing work at the airport to mitigate the risk involved to the extent possible, only a “limited” Annex 13 Serious Incident Investigation was carried out.