Emergency Runway Repairs at Perth Airport Following Qantas Incident

Urgent repair works are currently underway at Perth Airport after a Qantas aircraft caused significant damage to the main runway during take-off on Sunday. The airport officials confirmed that the runway was partially operational on Sunday afternoon, following the incident involving Qantas flight QF71, which took off at approximately 12:15 PM.

Footage captured during the take-off shows fragments of the runway being dislodged and thrown into the air as the aircraft accelerated from a stationary position. The damage was first identified during a routine safety inspection conducted shortly after the departure of the aircraft. An airport spokesperson stated, “Earlier today, pavement damage on the Main Runway was identified in a safety inspection following a departing aircraft. Pavement maintenance works are now underway.”

Aero photographer known as Mitchell, who operates under the name YPPH Plane Guy, was present at the airport and recorded the incident. He observed that the plane had its brakes engaged while increasing power, a situation not typical for most departures, which he attributed as a contributing factor to the damage. He mentioned that this area of the runway was part of ongoing renewals and one of the newest sections.

The damage necessitated shorter departures and even forced a 747 freighter to divert as there was no adequate runway available for its landing requirements. Astonishingly, despite the damage, the Cross Runway remained fully operational, enabling some level of continued flight operations at the airport.

Neither Qantas nor Perth Airport have yet pinpointed the exact cause of the damage. It is understood that the tarmac had been freshly laid, with scheduled maintenance expected to continue into November. Although the damage impacted runway operations, it reportedly did not cause any significant delays or cancellations for incoming and outgoing flights on Sunday night.