Macao’s airport was closed for several hours in the early hours of this morning after a cargo aircraft aborted a takeoff at high speed, according to a person familiar with the matter.
The person said that the incident involving the aircraft – which they identified as My Indo Airlines flight MYU862 bound for Kuching in Malaysia – shut the airport down from 1:30 am until around 6:40 am.
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A photo shared by the person, who has been granted anonymity as they are not authorised to speak to the media, appeared to show the aircraft parked on the tarmac after daybreak, with a fire engine and other vehicles pulled up alongside.
The person said, “Looks like when they rejected the take off, they blew the tires, which is pretty normal, and then had to be towed off the runway.”
Flight information on the airport website this morning showed that three overnight Air Macau flights experienced delayed arrivals. A Jin Air flight, departing for Seoul, was also held up. However, check-in for today’s flights appears to be operating normally.
Takeoffs are normally only rejected at high speed, because of major malfunctions.
According to the US-based Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, “High-speed rejected takeoffs are high-risk manoeuvres and often result in aircraft damage in the form of hot brakes and blown tires. Needless to say, the decision to abort should not be taken lightly, and it has to be made quickly since a delay of just a few seconds may result in a trip off the end of a runway – or worse.”
