Operational non-compliance, Perth Airport, Western Australia, on 9 May 2008, PK-GEF, Boeing 737-8CX

On 9 May 2008, a Boeing Company 737-8CX aircraft, registered PK-GEF, was being operated on a scheduled passenger service between Denpasar, Republic of Indonesia and Perth, WA. On board were two flight crew, six cabin crew and 76 passengers.

The flight crew reported that, once established in the cruise, they reviewed their briefing material and noted that the threshold for runway 21 at Perth was displaced due to runway works.

On approach to land at Perth, the aerodrome controller issued the flight crew with the landing clearance, '... runway 21 displaced threshold, cleared to land'. When the aircraft was about 15 seconds from touchdown, the flight crew questioned the presence of cars on the runway and conducted a go-around.

On the second approach, the flight crew were again issued the landing clearance '... runway 21, displaced threshold, cleared to land'. The aerodrome controller recalled observing the aircraft on what appeared to be an approach to land on the closed section of the runway and instructed the flight crew to go around. The go-around instruction also included information to assist the flight crew in identifying where the aircraft was to be landed. That additional information, together with the high workload being experienced by the flight crew at that time, may have momentarily confused them, with the effect that they did not assimilate and act on the instruction to go around.

As a result of this incident, the airport operator undertook a number of safety actions. Those actions included: the review of its dispatch of Method of Works Plans (MWOP) to relevant stakeholders; the implementation of a more robust MWOP receipt and acknowledge system; and the establishment of a project safety group in support of all critical airside works.