A passenger plane appeared to rip up a portion of an Australian airport’s runway Sunday as it accelerated before takeoff, a video shows.
The jet was gathering speed before a large sheet of asphalt appeared to peel off the runway behind it. The jet, identified as Qantas flight QF71, was departing Perth Airport for Singapore at about noon, The West Australian reported.
The failure affected nearly 66 feet of a freshly laid, approximately 361-foot section of the main runway, the airport’s authorities told the outlet. The over 11,200-foot main runway reportedly had been undergoing a scheduled renewal before the incident.
The incident rendered the runway partly operational, with one freight plane having to make a forced diversion, the report noted.
The Singapore-bound flight departed without any hitch and the incident did not cause flight cancellations or any serious delays, news.com.au reported. (RELATED: Freak Airplane Accident Abroad Kills Mechanic: REPORT)
On September 15, the runway 03 at #Perth Airport, #Australia, was damaged while #Qantas Airbus A330-200 (VH-EBD) was accelerating for takeoff. Flight #QF71 took off safely for Singapore.
🎥 ©Ypph_plane_guy/Instagram
📷 ©Seven#aviation #AvGeek #avgeeks #flights #Travel pic.twitter.com/1yXkdCfoJf— FlightMode (@FlightModeblog) September 16, 2024
The runway was reopened Monday morning following rapid, all-night repair, according to The West Australian.
The airport‘s authorities told The West Australian Monday afternoon that there would be “additional minor works” on the runway. The works reportedly were “based on the advice of an external civil engineer, sought as part of an ongoing investigation to understand the cause of the pavement failure.”
Roger Cook, premier of Western Australia, reportedly called the incident “a very concerning piece of infrastructure failure.”
“Perth Airport is a key piece of economic infrastructure for Western Australia — we use it for our mining industry, we use it for our tourism industry and it’s important for trade,” he said. “We’re certainly looking for an explanation from Perth Airport. You shouldn’t expect it to give way in such a fashion.”
The rehabilitation of the runway reportedly will continue into November.