I have landed a 737 on RW 36 at Darwin.
The situation was as follows -
Inbound from Brisbane at top of descent we were advised of a disabled aircraft on the main runway at Darwin. From memory it was a Pearl Aviation Kingair or such sized aircraft and it had a main gear failure on one side. It was located half way along the runway. ATC advised us that they were 'trying to locate a crane from in town' to move the aircraft but gave us no time frame for this operation. We entered a holding pattern at top of descent.
our options were -
1. Divert to Tindal.
2. Land on RW 36 at DRW.
3. Land on half of main runway at DRW.
Tindal was ruled out because although we had the fuel to get there, our ETA fell into a Tempo period of thunderstorms and we did not have Tempo fuel.
Landing on an available half of the main runway was not approved by ATC even though we requested it twice. The available surface left was still longer than the total length of runway 36.
We did the numbers for 36 and they were tight but not impossible. Runway 36 had no approach lighting (PAPI/TVASIS) or instrument approach guidance etc.
Our decision was to leave the hold at the latest possible time, planning to land on 36, with the option of joining a left base for runway 11 if it could be cleared in time.
The main runway remained blocked and we landed on runway 36.
With the assistance of a very capable First Officer, this came off without a hitch. The aircraft pulled up easily (about 1000m) and we were able to turn off runway 36 straight onto the main runway and taxi into the terminal. After refuelling, and when the runway had finally been cleared, we continued on the next sector to Perth.
In the back of my mind, if on late final runway 36 looked too unsafe, I would have gone around, re-positioned for the main runway and landed on half of it. Whether it was approved or not was inconsequential. That is what I am paid for.
Of course, there was also the possibility of landing on the long taxiway at Darwin, but it is quite thin and rough.
My personal fuel policy is to 'add a bit'. There have been a couple of occasions like the above where I've been glad for the extra thinking time.