Taipei Taoyuan International Airport has reviewed its air traffic control procedures after a July incident, in which an aircraft entered the airport's runway by mistake while another was taking off.
The 15 July incident was made public yesterday by Taiwan's Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA), which had carried out an investigation.
An Antonov-124 aircraft operated by an Ukrainian airline and a Singapore Airlines A330 were involved in the incident, says the CAA. Ukrainian cargo carrier Antonov Airlines operates Antonov-124s, according to Flightglobal's ACAS database.
On that day, the An-124 had departed the cargo apron and entered taxiway N13 to prepare for its departure from Runway 05.
Under normal operating procedures, departing aircraft on taxiway N13 are required to cross the runway to taxiway N11 before proceeding to another taxiway for departure. An aircraft, however, is not allowed to cross the runway when another aircraft is departing from the runway.
In the incident, a miscommunication between the An-124 pilot and the airport's air traffic controllers resulted in the aircraft entering the runway while the SIA A330 was taking off. The two aircraft were 1,100m apart, says the CAA.
Air traffic controllers, who realised the two aircraft were too close to another, then requested the An-124 to exit the runway.
The incident resulted in a review of air traffic control procedures at the airport and the suspension of the controllers on duty, says the CAA.
It also issued a NOTAM to pilots, notifying them of three hotspots at Taoyuan where two taxiways and a service road cross the airport's two runways.
Source: Air Transport Intelligence news
