The aviation industry has been slow to acknowledge the risks
associated with ground operations. While most occurrences on
airport aprons and taxiways do not have consequences in terms of
loss of life, they are often associated with aircraft damage,
delays to passengers and avoidable financial costs to industry. The
focus of this report is to examine ground occurrences involving
high capacity aircraft operations.
This report examines occurrences involving ground operations and
foreign object debris that occur at Australian airports which
receive high capacity aircraft. It uses occurrence and
investigation data reported to the Australian Transport Safety
Bureau to create a picture of ground occurrences. This picture
begins when an aircraft is being prepared for takeoff and ends when
passengers and crew have disembarked from the aircraft. It explores
contributing factors associated with each type of occurrence, with
the objective of providing some insight into what happened and why
various events occurred. The key to preventing ground occurrences
appears to revolve around ensuring effective communication between
pilots, ground crews and air traffic services through a process of
checks and balances.