Collision on ground - Townsville Aerodrome, Queensland, 11 February 2009, VH-SBW, Bombardier DHC-8-315

On 11 February 2009 at about 1922 Eastern Standard Time, a Bombardier Inc DHC‑8‑315 commenced the take-off roll on runway 01 at Townsville Aerodrome for Cairns, Queensland. During the take-off, the pilot in command realised that the aircraft was aligned with the left runway edge. The aircraft was manoeuvred to the centre of the runway and the take-off rejected. It was later determined that the aircraft's left mainwheel had damaged a runway edge light. There were no injuries to the 34 passengers or five crew members and no damage to the aircraft.

The investigation found a number of factors that may have led to the pilot in command not aligning the aircraft on the runway centreline for the take-off. Those factors included misinterpreting the normal runway cues, time pressure to depart, the weather conditions at Townsville Aerodrome and the associated delays during the aircraft's arrival, landing and departure.

Following this occurrence, the operator amended their operational procedures to ensure aircraft were aligned on the centreline of the assigned runway. In addition, the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) has released an Aviation Research and Analysis Report (AR-2009-033) that examined a number of domestic and international occurrences in which pilots commenced the take-off while aligned with the runway edge lighting. In that examination, eight common factors were identified that increased the risk of a misaligned takeoff or landing occurrence, including: the distraction or divided attention of the flight crew; a confusing runway layout; the presence of a displaced threshold or the conduct of an intersection departure; poor visibility or weather; air traffic control clearance(s) issued during runway entry; no runway centreline lighting; flight crew fatigue; and recessed runway edge lighting.

The ATSB has developed a Pilot Information Card that will alert pilots of the increased risk of a misaligned takeoff as a result of those factors, which will be distributed to relevant parts of the industry and will be available from the ATSB on request.