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In 1971, Essendon Airport in Melbourne, Australia reduced its strip width from 300 metres to 180 metres when international flights moved to the new Melbourne Airport at Tullamarine. This information was given to pilots to inform safety and operational decisions. However, a recent investigation by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) found that the airport may not have adequately determined that it was still able to use the 1970s standard when it submitted plans for a new retail precinct in 2004. The ATSB report stated that there was no evidence that the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) had given the airport permission to use the 180-metre clearance zone.
The investigation also revealed that there were concerns about overdevelopment at airports across the country, with pilots worried that aviation operations and safety were being compromised. The ATSB report identified a 2003 email in which an Essendon Airport management officer stated that CASA had verbally agreed to the airport applying a strip width of 180 metres. However, CASA later confirmed that this advice was wrong and had no legal validity.
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The investigation did not find that the retail precinct, known as the DFO, was unsafe or should not have been built. However, it did highlight the lack of clarity regarding the airport’s compliance with regulations and the need for stricter processes to protect aerodrome operations. The reduced strip width of the runway has downgraded Essendon’s status as an airport, as some operators choose not to use it with larger aircraft.
The ATSB investigation into the DFO development approval has been one of the longest and most challenging investigations undertaken by the bureau. CASA continues to maintain that the development was safe and compliant when it was approved. The ATSB’s final report recommended the establishment of an agreed assurance framework between CASA and the Department of Transport for assessing airport development plans in the future..
