Aircraft avoided 'distracted' maintenance driver on Toronto airport runway: report
CTV
A plane destined for Toronto Pearson Airport was forced to abort an initial landing attempt to avoid an unauthorized vehicle operated by a ‘distracted’ maintenance employee who crossed its path on the runway in 2022, investigators with the Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) have determined.
A plane destined for Toronto Pearson Airport was forced to abort an initial landing attempt to avoid an unauthorized vehicle operated by a ‘distracted’ maintenance employee who crossed its path on the runway in 2022, investigators with the Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) have determined.
A report on the incident was released Wednesday by the TSB following the completion of an investigation conducted by the Transportation Safety Board of Canada, an independent federal agency that investigates air, marine, pipeline, and rail transportation occurrences.
According to the report, the incident happened shortly after midnight on Oct. 15, 2022 when an Air Canada Boeing 737 was on its final approach for the runway.
At the same time, the driver of a Greater Toronto Airport Authority (GTAA) maintenance vehicle crossed the active runway. The driver did this, the report states, despite having received and read back an instruction to stay off the runway.
An air traffic controller observed the situation as it was happening and was able to instruct the aircraft’s crew to abort the attempt to land mid-procedure.
The flight crew complied and the aircraft landed uneventfully following a second approach,” the report states.
According to the report, the driver had navigated onto the runway as his “attention was split between his driving duties and the planning of upcoming tasks.”
