- Runway destroyed when Qantas plane took off
- Perth Airport undergoes urgent repairs
Maintenance staff at one of Australia’s busiest airports have been forced to make hasty repairs to the main runway after a Qantas plane tore up parts of the runway during takeoff.
Extraordinary footage has emerged of the moment Singapore-bound Qantas flight QF71 left a trail of destruction as the plane took off from Perth Airport at about 12.15pm on Sunday.
As the plane was captured accelerating along the runway, fragments of the runway can be seen being torn off and thrown into the air some distance behind the plane.
Aerial photographer Mitchell, known as the YPPH Plane Guy, was at the airport to capture the moment the pavement was sprayed behind the plane.
He explained that the plane had its brakes on because it was increasing power.
“(That) is not the situation with many exits, which probably contributed to the amount of energy in the particular area,” he said.
He said the spot is one of the coolest areas of the ongoing track renovations.
“The problem resulted in planes having to fly shorter distances to take off and a 747 freighter being diverted to Adelaide because there was no runway large enough to land on,” the photographer added.
Astonishing footage showed fragments of the runway in the air as Qantas flight QF71 bound for Singapore took off.
The airport confirmed that runway three was partially operational for the rest of the afternoon and evening, just hours before the start of another work week.
“Earlier today, damage to the main runway pavement was identified in a safety inspection after an aircraft took off,” an airport spokesman said. Western Australia.
‘Pavement maintenance work is already underway.’
Neither Qantas nor Perth Airport have been able to identify the exact cause of the damage.
It is known that the asphalt has already been freshly laid and that the planned daily paving works will extend until November.
Perth Airport staff rushed to carry out urgent repairs to the main runway.
Seven News reported that no arriving aircraft were able to land on the damaged runway, which was used for a limited number of departing flights.
The runway problem is understood not to have caused any delays to flights on Sunday evening.
Daily Mail Australia has contacted Qantas and Perth Airport for comment.