Incident Description
During takeoff, the flight crew of an Air New Zealand Boeing 747 reported a near collision with the tail of a Federal Express Boeing 727. The 747 crew stated that due to the absence of a tail logo or strobe lights on the 727, the aircraft was not visible to them until just before rotation. The crew estimated that they vertically cleared the 727's tail by approximately 100 feet.
The 727 was being pushed from a cargo ramp to a maintenance facility. It was taxied by two mechanics who had received clearance from air traffic control (ATC).
ATC Communication
ATC tape recordings revealed that the local controller cleared the 727 to cross the runway 32 seconds before the 747 received its takeoff clearance. While crossing the runway, the 727's mechanics observed a United 767 turning onto a perpendicular taxiway directly ahead. They stopped the 727 and waited until they could contact ground control to clarify the situation. Tapes showed that the 767 had been instructed by ground control to hold for the 727 during the time the 727 was on the local control frequency.
Airport Design and Procedures
The airport's design and layout did not meet current runway safety area dimensional criteria concerning the separation of parallel taxiways from the runway. Additionally, the ATC procedures in use by the tower did not consider the inadequate runway safety area dimensions.