Vehicle crosses runway in front of departing plane

[Kurt A]

Indian Airlines Flight IC179 was awaiting clearance for takeoff at Mumbai Airport when an unauthorised four-wheeled drive crossed the runway in front.

Having already lined up the aircraft and only waiting final authorisation, the pilot of the A320 was much surprised when the vehicle appeared in front of him.

Calling the incident into the control tower, airport officials then caught the driver of the four-wheel drive and seized his airport driving permit and airside pass.

The driver and vehicle belonged to construction company Larsen & Toubro, who is currently employed to revamp Mumbai Airport’s terminal, taxiways, support infrastructure and surrounds.

The Indian Airlines flight from Mumbai to Mangalore took off without delay.

-eTravel

[Philip Argy]

OK - I'll ask the dumb question: if t/o clearance had not been given, the a/c was stationary and holding, so why was the vehicle transit dangerous?

Is there an assumption that the tower was not aware of the vehicle and/or that the driver was not listening to the right channel/ and/or that it was too close to the a/c? I haven't seen any facts to ground those assumptions.

[Adam P.]

unauthorised four-wheeled drive

Unauthorised. It wasn't supposed to be there. If it was there after t/off clearance had been given the outcome may have been different.

The danger stems from the fact that the vehicle was on the runway at all, without a clearance. If it can happen with an aircraft lined up, what's to stop it happening with an aircraft on the take-off roll?

[Nigel C]

I hope my straight forward answer doesn't offend anyone...

If the vehicle/driver was unauthorised (be it because of airport driving authority restrictions, lack of tower clearance, ill-equipped vehicle etc), then it is a runway incursion.

Furthermore, if the driver isn't trained or authorised to be there, then they will more than likely be disorientated. Trust me, I can get people 'lost' on an airfield during the day with not much effort if they're not used to being there. At night it's even easier.


It is a very dangerous situation for both driver and aircraft.


In terms of driving authority, Sydney has 3 categories of driving authority:
Category 2 for aprons and perimeter roads
Category 3 for Cat 2 + taxiways
Category 4 for Cat 3 + runways (appropriate clearances are necessary for entry to flight strips)
I imagine Mumbai would have a similar system.

[Philip Argy]

I know it wasn't cleared to be there, Adam, but my query related to the assumption that there was no situational awareness on anyone else's part. How do we know that the tower hadn't seen them and withheld t/o clearance until they were safely out of the way?

Also, the reference to 'departing plane' conveyed to me that the a/c had commenced its t/o roll, which is quite a different scenario to what the facts describe.

[Nigel C]

Calling the incident into the control tower, airport officials then caught the driver of the four-wheel drive

I think that does say there was situational awareness from the relevant authorities. It doesn't matter who first sees the vehicle in the wrong spot, it just matters that someone did!

Any aircraft that has commenced pushback from the terminal for the purpose of flight can be classed as a departing aircraft, I would say.

[Adam P.]

On another note....

the pilot of the A320 was much surprised

I love the turn of phrase you get occasionally in Indian newspapers!

And on yet another note....

Trust me, I can get 'lost' on an airfield during the day with not much effort

See what can happen when you don't quote word-for-word the entire statement?

[Mike Scott]

He was probably not paying attention while talking on his cell phone for his other job...a CS rep for UA.

MS

[Nigel C]

Originally Posted by Adam P.

See what can happen when you don't quote word-for-word the entire statement?

YOU can get lost.

But seriously, nice one!

[Noel White]

Back in the good old days when EWA (East West Airlines) departed from Building 60 (don't know what's it called now) to Norfolk Island with F27 500's. HM Customs had to attend to oversight the departure and collect the outwards custom cards from departing passengers. The story goes that a young "new to the airport" Customs Officer was detail to go to the EWA terminal and show the flag.

He asked the question "Where was the EWA terminal?"

"That's it over there on the domestic apron" replied his supervisor in the ITB, pointing to Building 60.

So off he goes, hops in the car parked airside and headed off to carry out his duties. Now the quickest way from the ITB to B60 is a straight line across R/W 16 and so that's the way he went.

By the time he reach B60 he was surrounded by every safety officer car on the airport including those on smoko.

He couldn't see what all the fuss was about, he looked both ways when he got to the runway and didn't see any aircraft and thought it was safe to cross.