What happened
On January 12, 2014, at approximately 15:36 local time, a runway incursion occurred on runway 24 at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol. A bird control vehicle, tasked with performing a runway inspection, had received permission from air traffic control to enter runway 24 and proceed lengthwise along the strip. Simultaneously, a Boeing 747 cargo aircraft was taxiing toward intersection S2, where it was instructed to stop and wait for clearance to cross the runway.
While the bird control vehicle was still occupying runway 24, the runway controller—after receiving a report from the Boeing 747 crew that they had cleared the runway—issued takeoff clearance to a Boeing 737. The bird control vehicle crew, who were monitoring the runway frequency, heard the takeoff clearance and realized the runway was still occupied. They immediately notified the tower assistant via radio. This alert prompted the runway controller to instruct the Boeing 737 to abort its takeoff. The aircraft, which had gained minimal speed, successfully halted, and the runway was cleared once the vehicle exited the area.
The investigation
The Dutch Safety Board (OVV) examined the sequence of events and the operational environment in the Schiphol Tower. The investigation focused on the communication between the bird control vehicle and the tower, the actions of the runway controller, and the effectiveness of existing safety nets. The investigation also looked into whether the controller had utilized available technical tools to monitor runway occupancy.
Findings
- The runway controller failed to account for the bird control vehicle on runway 24 after the crossing Boeing 747 had reported clear.
- The controller forgot the presence of the vehicle following the transition of traffic from the ground controller to the runway controller.
- There was a lack of mandatory use of technical signaling tools, such as runway occupancy strips, to indicate the number of vehicles or aircraft on a specific runway.
- The safety management systems of both the airport operator and the air traffic service provider failed to implement sufficient measures to prevent a recurrence of a nearly identical incident that had occurred in January 2013.
Safety action
Following the incident, and noting two additional similar incursions within ten days, Air Traffic Control Netherlands (LVNL) management issued an operational notice making the use of runway occupancy strips partially mandatory. Since the implementation of improved signaling and the mandatory use of these strips for certain operations, no further incidents involving bird control vehicles have been recorded.