Were you on one of these flights? ATSB report finds pilots, flight crews confused by Adelaide Airport runway markings and lights

An ex-pilot has blasted works at Adelaide Airport after it caused a series of near-misses sparked by confusing temporary markings. See the list of flights.

The runway at Adelaide Airport, pictured in the ATSB report. Picture: Supplied

Thirteen erroneous takeoffs at Adelaide Airport earlier this year “could have resulted in disaster” after pilots were set up to fail, an aviation expert says.

An Australian Transport Safety Bureau report published on Tuesday detailed the incidents, which occurred while taxiway construction works took place at Adelaide Airport between March and May.

On 13 occasions across day and night flights, crews missed a temporary start of takeoff (SOT) position set up during the works.

Instead, they mistakenly commenced takeoff from a landing threshold, reducing the runway by about 500m, because of “confusing temporary markings and lights”, the ATSB report found.

Former Airbus A330 captain James Nixon told The Advertiser pilots had been “set up to fail”.

“This time each crew got away with it, calculating performance figures for takeoffs which were 508 metres shorter than the takeoff run,” he said.

“If one had needed to stop in a hurry, it could have resulted in disaster.”

Mr Nixon, who flew planes for 30 years before changing careers in 2016, said he believed the problem could have been fixed by placing flashing green lights either side of the runway, beside the new takeoff point.

He said another solution was using “plain English” on safety recordings listened to by pilots.

“Just before you go to work, you’ve got about 20 minutes to read hundreds and hundreds of these paragraphs, and try and decipher all these stupid acronyms,” Mr Nixon said.

Former pilot James Nixon. Picture: Supplied

A plane taking off from Adelaide Airport in October. Picture: Dean Martin

“Tell them in plain language, ‘Don’t forget the takeoff threshold is 500 meters before the landing threshold.’ Let them know what’s going on.

“They’re humans, not robots. They need human solutions.”

ATSB chief commissioner Angus Mitchell said the confusion meant flight crews “used performance parameters for a longer runway … increasing the risk of a runway overrun, especially if a high speed rejected takeoff had been required”.

Runway excursions, which include runway overruns, have the potential to result in fatalities and are classified as high-risk incidents by the International Civil Aviation Organization.

The report said a Qatar Airways flight en route to Doha from Adelaide on March 31 was still at “zero feet altitude approaching the departure end of the runway”.

In April, the Adelaide Tower air traffic control manager emailed Airservices’ safety team, saying there was “a LOT of confusion with pilots as to where the takeoff commences”.

A plane at Adelaide Airport in October. Picture: Dean Martin

Crews interviewed by ATSB said they did not identify the white line indicating the SOT position, and in one case missed red lights indicating the position because “it was a bright sunny day”.

A spokesman for Adelaide Airport said it had noted the report’s outcomes and taken steps to “improve notifications to aircraft operators about changes to takeoff procedures when works are underway on the airfield”.

“We will also review and act on any resultant changes to Civil Aviation Safety Regulations to help ensure safe operations at the airport at all times,” he said.

Originally published as Were you on one of these flights? ATSB report finds pilots, flight crews confused by Adelaide Airport runway markings and lights