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A 25-year-old man has been charged after allegedly running onto the airfield at Melbourne Airport on Tuesday night, forcing a Qantas flight to abort landing.
Flight QF782 from Perth, operated by the 737-800 VH-VXJ, touched down 17 minutes behind schedule after the pilot performed a go-around to avoid the Nepalese national, who police say trespassed near the live runway, while two other aircraft were prevented from taking off.
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“Australian Federal Police and the Melbourne Airport team responded to an unauthorised person on the airfield,” a Melbourne Airport spokesperson said in a statement.
“The man was apprehended by the Airside Operations team and subsequently taken into custody by the Australian Federal Police. The safety and security of passengers and staff is our number one priority.
“One arriving flight was required to go-around and two others were held on the ground while Australian Federal Police and Airside Operations teams responded to the incident.”
The man was charged with trespassing on Commonwealth land and endangering aerodrome safety, and was due to face Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on Thursday after being taken to Northern Hospital Epping under section 232 of the Mental Health and Wellbeing Act, according to the AFP.
The alleged intrusion came as Melbourne Airport’s east-west runway is slated for overnight closures during the next seven months due to “once-in-a-decade” essential maintenance works, which the airport says will “balance safety, community impacts and operational needs”.
“To allow these works to occur safely and to maintain flexibility during our busy daytime hours, the east–west runway will be closed overnight Monday to Friday from today through to August,” Melbourne Airport said in a post on LinkedIn.
“On those days, between 10pm and 6am, a large team of aviation, construction and technical experts will be on site laying around 10,000 tonnes of new asphalt, completing fresh line marking and grooving, and upgrading aeronautical ground lighting across a 27-metre-wide section along the middle of the runway.
“During these windows, all flights will use the existing north-south runway, so people living under existing flight paths to the north and south of the airport may experience additional noise.”
Melbourne’s north-south runway underwent similar works in 2023.
