On this occasion ATC had instructed three commercial passenger aircraft to go-around after they had knowingly positioned them to land on the reduced length runway. The subsequent investigation revealed further incidents had occurred during the course of the work, the most significant being on the night of 15 July 2003. This serious incident was notified to the AAIB at 1724 hrs on 23 July 2003, seven days after it had occurred. The aircraft passed within 56 ft of a 14 ft high vehicle.

As the aircraft passed the crest of the runway, the flight crew became aware of vehicles at its far end but, as they were now close to their rotation speed, they continued and carried out a normal takeoff. Due to a difference in interpretation of information passed between Air Traffic Control (ATC) and the flight crew, the aircraft entered the runway from holding point AG, rather than the expected holding point A, and the takeoff was conducted using a reduced thrust setting calculated for the assumed normal runway length. This was due to work-in-progress to remove rubber deposits at the far end of the runway, which was out of sight from the 06L threshold end as the runway was built over a slight rise in the ground. Runway 06L was in use but the flight crew were not aware that this runway was being operated at reduced length. G-XLAG, a Boeing 737-86N, with seven crew and 190 passengers on board, was undertaking a flight from Manchester Airport to Kos, Greece.

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