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Air India Faces Criticism for Pressing Crash Victim Families to Waive Claims Prematurely
🇮🇳 India· Country10 Jun
3 reportsCAT AIPCAVCASLH+1
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QantasLink Dash 8-300 Misaligned Takeoff at Mildura Airport – February 2025 (ATSB Final Report)
Occurred 25 Feb 2025·Detected 12 May 2026·
🇦🇺 Mildura Airport, Victoria, Australia1 reportEnded 29 May 2026
AviationAviation
A QantasLink De Havilland Dash 8-300 (VH-TQM) lined up with a runway edge instead of the centreline during a night departure from Mildura Airport, Australia, on 25 February 2025. The crew were distracted by cockpit ready checks during the runway end turn and failed to follow the guidance line markings, causing the aircraft to damage several runway edge lights during take-off. The aircraft and its 54 occupants landed safely in Melbourne after a precautionary low pass for gear inspection, with minor damage to the nose landing gear, fuselage, and right propeller. The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) classified the incident as serious and QantasLink has since introduced a policy prohibiting ready checks during runway end turns.
AI-generated from linked source reports. See our correction policy.
Impact verdict
Low impact. No fatalities or injuries were recorded and aircraft damage was minor. Insured losses are likely limited to aircraft repair costs and runway infrastructure damage, with no significant systemic or catastrophic insurance implications.
View assessment methodologyHow we grade what we know -- Known · Reported · Uncertain. Methodology →
Intelligence ledger
Each line expands in place to its underlying sourced claim.
Known9 lines
Incident occurred on 25 February 2025 at Mildura Airport, Australia, runway 09▾
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No separate sourced-claim record is available for this line yet.
Aircraft: QantasLink De Havilland Dash 8-300, registration VH-TQM▾
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Aircraft lined up with runway edge lights rather than centreline during night departure▾
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Several runway edge lights were damaged during take-off▾
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Aircraft suffered minor damage to nose landing gear, fuselage, and right propeller blade▾
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No separate sourced-claim record is available for this line yet.
None of the four crew or 50 passengers were injured▾
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Aircraft conducted a low pass over Melbourne for ATC visual inspection of landing gear before landing safely▾
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ATSB classified the incident as serious and published a final report▾
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No separate sourced-claim record is available for this line yet.
QantasLink introduced a new policy prohibiting ready checks during runway end turns following the incident▾
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Reported3 lines
Crew attention was diverted to completing ready checks during line-up, reducing monitoring of aircraft position▾
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No separate sourced-claim record is available for this line yet.
Dark ambient conditions reduced available visual cues, a factor consistently identified in similar misaligned take-off occurrences▾
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No separate sourced-claim record is available for this line yet.
Aircraft was taxied off the starter extension guidance line during the turn▾
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No separate sourced-claim record is available for this line yet.
Uncertain2 lines
Extent of runway infrastructure damage beyond edge lights not fully detailed▾
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No separate sourced-claim record is available for this line yet.
Whether any regulatory or enforcement action was taken against the crew or operator beyond procedural updates▾
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No separate sourced-claim record is available for this line yet.
Affected countries
🇦🇺 Australia
Timeline
Closure2 Jun 2026, 13:05
Event Closed
auto_closed_monitoring_timeout
Status Change2 Jun 2026, 13:05
Lifecycle changed
monitoring → closed
Status Change29 May 2026, 05:30
Status changed to monitoring
Auto-transitioned: no updates for 6 hours
active → monitoring
Status Change28 May 2026, 22:36
Status changed to active
remediation: existing authoritative signal
signal → active
Initial Detection12 May 2026, 06:25
Initial Detection
A QantasLink De Havilland Dash 8-300 (VH-TQM) lined up with a runway edge instead of the centreline during a night departure from Mildura Airport, Australia, on 25 February 2025. The crew were distracted by cockpit ready checks during the runway end turn and failed to follow the guidance line markings, causing the aircraft to damage several runway edge lights during take-off. The aircraft and its 54 occupants landed safely in Melbourne after a precautionary low pass for gear inspection, with minor damage to the nose landing gear, fuselage, and right propeller. The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) classified the incident as serious and QantasLink has since introduced a policy prohibiting ready checks during runway end turns.
The incident, graded as serious, occurred on 25 February 2025 as the aircraft (VH-TQM) prepared to take off from Mildura's runway 09 on a service to Melbourne... The aircraft damaged several runway lights as it took off and the captain realized the aircraft was not on the centreline.
Source: FlightGlobal (Trade Media) · View source
Lloyd's classifications
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