ATSB clears crew in Etihad aborted takeoff incident

The ATSB will not investigate the aborted takeoff that left an Etihad 787 stuck overnight on Melbourne Airport’s north-south runway this week, saying flight crew acted appropriately. The Dreamliner, A6-BLN, suffered tyre damage in the emergency stop on Sunday night and could not be immediately cleared from the runway, forcing it to close for around 14 hours. Aviation rescue firefighters were able to cool the landing gear with foam. In a statement, the transport safety watchdog said it had gathered enough information and would not launch a probe into the incident. “As reported to the ATSB, during the take-off roll for a scheduled passenger flight from Melbourne to Abu Dhabi, the flight crew observed a high exhaust gas temperature indication from the aircraft’s right engine, and rejected the take-off in line with standard operating procedures,” an ATSB spokesperson said. “During the high-speed rejected take-off, two of the aircraft’s tyres deflated. No further damage or injuries were reported. The relevant information from the incident has been added to the ATSB’s occurrence database.”<br/>