On 30 May 2007, at about 0555 hours local time, the pilot of an Airbus A340 Gulf Air – Airbus A340 A40-LH , while taking off from Runway 20C at Singapore Changi Airport, had to apply TOGA (Take-off Go Around) power and rotate abruptly at a high rate to expedite the lift-off when he noticed the centreline lights indicating the runway’s impending end.

The A340 Gulf Air – Airbus A340 A40-LH crew had calculated the take-off performance based on the original TORA (Take-off Run Available) of 4,000 m as they were unaware of the temporary shortening of Runway 20C to 2,500 m due to resurfacing works

Gulf Air – Airbus A340 A40-LH

This incident of Gulf Air – Airbus A340 A40-LH was not immediately reported to Singapore Air Traffic Control. The crew filed an incident report to their airline’s headquarters after arrival at their destination.

The Air Accident Investigation Bureau of Singapore (AAIB) was informed of the incident by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation and Meteorology of the Sultanate of Oman (DGCAM) which was the aviation regulator of the airline.

The AAIB classified the occurrence as an incident and instituted an investigation.

• The information on the shortening of Runway 20C was not incorporated into the airline’s Far East NOTAM.
  The airline’s NOTAM system was not robust enough to ensure important upto-date information is not missed.
• The flight crew listened to the ATIS during their pre-flight preparation but did not check the ATIS again for updates thus missing the information on the shortening of Runway 20C
• After becoming aware that the flight crew did not have the latest ATIS information, the ATCO did not positively identify to them the latest ATIS edition status. The ATCO also did not attempt to revert to the flight crew to ensure that they had the updated ATIS information.
• The FO did not check the ATIS again even though he told the ATCO he would do so when seeking clearance from Clearance Delivery.
• The guidance signs pertaining to the shortened Runway 20C positioned along the taxi route to the runway failed to draw the attention of the flight crew to its information