On 6 October 2023, two airside tugs travelling together at Calgary were given a clearance by the ground controller which they misinterpreted as including permission to enter an active runway. On seeing vehicles ahead, the captain of a departing aircraft already at high speed judged that continuing the takeoff was the best option, and the tugs were cleared by a little over 300 feet. The lead driver said he believed that had he misunderstood the route, the controller would have informed him. Driver error was attributed to ‘procedural drift’ and an absence of both recurrent training and effective oversight.
Description
On 6 October 2023, a De Havilland DHC8-400 (C-GGNZ) operated by Jazz Aviation on a scheduled passenger flight from Calgary to an unrecorded destination as JZA7124 was on its takeoff roll on runway 17R in day visual conditions (VMC). The aircraft was approaching V1 when the flight crew saw two aircraft tow vehicles entering the runway ahead. The safest response was assessed as continuing the takeoff, and the aircraft completed the takeoff and cleared the vehicles by a little more than 300 feet.
The full content of this page is available to registered users only. Please Log in or Register