AAIB investigation to Boeing 737-8AS, EI-DPC, Boeing 737-8Z9, G-GDFR and Boeing 757-28A, G-OOBA
Step ladder left on the runway, Runway 33 at Birmingham Airport, West Midlands, 8 September 2020.
Summary:
After completing some routine maintenance on the approach lights to Runway 33 at Birmingham Airport, two airport engineering services technicians drove along the runway in an airport works pickup truck en route to their next task. In the back of the pickup truck was a step ladder that they had been using. As they drove through the touch down zone, the ladder came out of the vehicle and came to rest just to the right of the runway centreline. Three aircraft subsequently landed on Runway 33. The first two aircraft reported that they might have seen something on the runway during landing but could not be certain that it was not paint markings. Having been informed of the reports of the two preceding aircraft, the third aircraft elected to land, following which the flight crew notified ATC that they had seen a ladder on the runway. The ladder had been on the runway for 37 minutes before it was retrieved by the airport safety team.
The airport completed an investigation into the events and have taken a number of safety actions intended to prevent reoccurrence. The CAA issued a SkyWise notification under Aerodrome Safety Alerts to raise awareness of this event amongst airside workers.
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