GLOBAL - Two international passenger flights came perilously close to disaster at Melbourne's Tullamarine Airport in September 2023, narrowly avoiding construction crews and vehicles after taking off from a runway that had been temporarily shortened without the flight crews' full awareness. The incidents, which an Australian investigation found were avoided only "by luck," have triggered significant changes to international aviation safety protocols, carrying important implications for airport operations worldwide, including in Kenya.

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) released its final report on Tuesday, November 11, 2025, detailing the two separate but related "serious incidents." The first occurred on Thursday, September 7, 2023 (EAT), when a Malaysia Airlines Airbus A330-300, with 247 people on board bound for Kuala Lumpur, overran the temporary runway end, passing less than seven metres above workers. Eleven days later, on Monday, September 18, 2023 (EAT), a Bamboo Airways Boeing 787-9 heading to Hanoi also lifted off beyond the designated point, coming within 4.5 metres of construction personnel. No physical injuries were reported in either event, though one worker reported a stress-related injury.

The investigation revealed that Runway 34 had been shortened from its normal 3,657 metres to 2,089 metres to accommodate night-time resurfacing works. Although the flight crews of both aircraft had received notifications about the reduced length via standard pre-flight briefing documents, known as Notices to Air Missions (NOTAMs), and audio alerts, this critical information was not factored into their take-off performance calculations. The ATSB determined that factors such as expectation, workload, and time pressure contributed to the crews missing the change.

Consequently, both flight crews used reduced-thrust engine settings calculated for the full runway length. This resulted in longer take-off runs that went beyond the temporary runway end and into a 450-metre buffer zone where the construction was underway. The jet blast from both aircraft damaged runway lights and marker cones.

Global Safety Reforms and Local Relevance

The Melbourne incidents have served as a global wake-up call, highlighting systemic weaknesses in how critical safety information is communicated to flight crews. The ATSB's Chief Commissioner, Angus Mitchell, described the events as "terrifying" for the ground crew and stressed that a catastrophic outcome was narrowly averted.

In response, international and national bodies are implementing changes. The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), the UN's global aviation agency, has introduced new standards requiring highly conspicuous orange markings to visually alert crews to temporary runway changes. Furthermore, Airservices Australia is set to implement procedural changes by March 2026 to improve how air traffic controllers deliver essential aerodrome information. Both Malaysia Airlines and Bamboo Airways have also updated their flight dispatcher procedures to ensure such critical information is explicitly highlighted to flight crews.

These international reforms are particularly pertinent for Kenya. Recent safety audits of Nairobi's Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA), East Africa's busiest hub, have raised concerns. A June 2025 audit by the International Air Transport Association (IATA), in conjunction with the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA) and the Kenya Airports Authority (KAA), described JKIA's main runway as being in a state of "disintegration," with heavy rubber deposits obscuring crucial markings. Such conditions increase the risk of runway excursions, especially in adverse weather.

The audit also highlighted a severe understaffing of firefighting personnel, which could lead to a downgrade of the airport's safety category, preventing large aircraft from landing. While Kenyan authorities have stated they are addressing these findings, the Melbourne near-misses underscore the vital importance of not only physical infrastructure but also robust communication and procedural safeguards.

The Australian investigation found that the primary risk controls were procedural, relying on a NOTAM system that is susceptible to human error. This highlights a global vulnerability. A major failure of the NOTAM system in the United States in January 2023 grounded all domestic flights, demonstrating the system's criticality and the chaos that ensues when it fails. For an aviation hub like Nairobi, ensuring that crews—both local and international—have multiple, clear, and unavoidable warnings about runway works or hazards is a lesson that must be heeded to prevent a similar, or potentially worse, incident from occurring. The KCAA's mandate includes ensuring a safe and efficient civil aviation system, making the lessons from Melbourne directly applicable to its oversight of Kenyan aerodromes.