Two "serious incidents" at Schiphol in 2nd quarter

The Dutch Safety Board investigated two "serious incidents" at Schiphol airport in the last quarter. One involved a so-called tail strike, the second a plane being given permission to take off while a bird watch vehicle was still on the runway, NU.nl reports.

On April 21st, a Boeing 777's tail hit the runway during takeoff - the so-called airstrike. The crew decided to return to Schiphol as a precaution after the plane lost fuel over the North Sea.

On May 31st, the air traffic control tower authorized a Canadair Regional Jet CRJ-900 to get ready for takeoff on runway 36L, while a bird watch vehicle was still inspecting the runway. The tower also gave the bird watch vehicle permission to do this. Luckily the bird watcher was tuned in to the frequency of the air traffic control tower and immediately made contact with them when he heard the plane had permission to takeoff. The control tower withdrew the plane's permission.

In another report on April 6th, the Dutch Safety Board warned that measures need to be taken to ensure safety at Schiphol. One of these measures was making the handling of air traffic less complex. In this quarterly report, the Board again focused on this "necessary fundamental discussion on the future of aviation in the Netherlands and the possibilities and limitation of airport growth."