Description

On 25 September 2019, an ATR 72-600 (VH-VPJ) being operated by Virgin Australia Airlines on a scheduled domestic passenger flight from Canberra to Sydney taxied out in normal night visibility on a clearance to line up and subsequently take off from runway 35 but instead entered and began takeoff from runway 30. ATC noticed the error and instructed the aircraft to stop which it did from a low speed with no consequences. The aircraft was subsequently repositioned for takeoff from runway 30 and departed without further event. The available distance on runway 30 was calculated to be insufficient for the aircraft to take off in.

Investigation

An Investigation into the accident was carried out by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB). Relevant aircraft flight data was available in support of the Investigation as was relevant recorded ATC data.

It was noted that the Captain, who was acting as PF for the sector, had a total of 6,500 hours flying experience of which 2,375 hours were on type. The First Officer had a total of 6,700 hours flying experience of which 6,100 hours were on type.

What Happened

After pushback, the aircraft was cleared to taxi to intersection ‘G’ as explicitly requested. The taxi time was only around a minute and, as they approached the holding point which was common to both runway 35 and runway 30 (see the illustration below), the First Officer reported “ready” to TWR and the aircraft was cleared to line up on runway 35. Shortly after that, takeoff clearance was given and since neither pilot realised that they had actually lined up on runway 30, the power levers were advanced to the takeoff position and the aircraft began to move. However, at about the same time as the crew reported having realised that they were on the wrong runway, the TWR controller, although not having had originally noticed that the aircraft had lined up on the wrong runway, then saw it beginning to take off and immediately instructed it to stop, to which the First Officer responded with “stopping”. After repositioning, the aircraft subsequently took off from runway 35 without further event.