The Australian
Take-off aborted for asylum-seekers after stairs left hanging
Dennis Shanahan
From: The Australian
May 11, 2010 12:00AM
A CHARTERED Airbus with a full load of 120 asylum-seekers and Australian officials had to abort its take-off from the Cocos Islands on Sunday night because its rear stairs were trailing along the tarmac.
Customs officials and customers at the nearby Cocos Island Club had to rush to the airfield apron, climb over the perimeter fence and run towards the plane waving their arms to alert the pilot to the problem.
When the plane stopped, an airfield manager used a radio to contact the pilot.
Australian electronics businessman Jack O'Donnell, who was at the Cocos Club, said people were shocked to see the plane trailing the rear stairs as it taxied on to the tarmac.
The trailing stairs caused a shower of sparks as the plane picked up speed.
Mr O'Donnell told The Australian last night that the "trailing stairs caused a hell of a racket and were sending out sparks".
"There were some Customs officers nearby and they pelted towards the fence as we all started to run towards the airfield," he said. "One of the Customs blokes got over the fence first and ran up waving his arms to stop the plane.
"It was clear the pilot and others at different parts of the airfield couldn't see the stairs at the rear."
When the pilot was informed, the rear door was opened and the stairs withdrawn into their separate hatch.
The pilot then recommenced the take-off.
A spokesman for the Air Transport Safety Bureau said last night there had been no report received of the incident but it did expect one within the 72-hour reporting period.
A Department of Immigration spokesman said the federal government was concerned at the incident and had called for a full report.