What happened
On July 4, 2011, the crew of a departing aircraft reported finding fragments of concrete spalling between runway threshold 33 and taxiway H at Warsaw Chopin Airport (EPWA). Following this report, the airport duty officer halted all arrival and departure traffic for nine minutes. During this period, the debris was located and the damaged expansion joint was removed.
The investigation
The investigation focused on the activities occurring on runway 15-33 during the night of July 3–4, 2011. It was established that mechanical cleaning of the runway surface had been conducted during the night. Although the runway had been inspected and cleared for use following the completion of these works, the damage was discovered during subsequent flight operations.
Findings
- The investigation determined that the expansion joint was likely damaged during the mechanical cleaning works performed overnight.
- The loosened material was subsequently dislodged from its position by the operations of aircraft using the runway.