Speed essential to keep runway safe

‘‘This job is not for the fainthearted. ’’

Graham Mitcham loves going to work each day at the country’s biggest airport.

The airfield officer at Auckland Airport has been in his job nearly 38 years and is responsible for ensuring the runway, taxiways and aprons are safe for aircraft.

Four times a day, teams of officers search for foreign object debris (FOD), which typically includes things like bag tags, plastic bags, drink cans, and cork from runway joints.

Good eyes and fast feet are two essential skills when it comes to a FOD drive and Mitcham can quickly identify a piece of cork on the runway.

With only minutes before an aeroplane is due to touch down he shoots out of the vehicle, collects the ripped up cork and is back within 30 seconds.

‘‘Most people go to the gym to keep fit, but I run along the runway,’’ Mitcham says.

Airfield officers work through all weather conditions, inspecting the 3.6 kilometre runway for rubbish and debris which could affect the 400 aircraft passing through the airport daily.

Inspections usually take between one to two hours, with two airfield officers taking to the runway in a vehicle, their movements controlled by aircraft towers.

Mitcham says it’s hard to predict what each day will bring.

Fish can sometimes appear, and years ago a seal washed up from Manukau Harbour.

‘‘This is a great life,’’ he says.

‘‘I couldn’t have wished for a better job.

‘‘Everything we do we’ve got to be precise, we can’t afford to make mistakes. Not when it could affect aircraft,’’ Mitcham says.

‘‘It can be very daunting seeing aircraft coming out of the fog ... this job is not for the fainthearted.’’

Mitcham says it’s about raising awareness of how much damage even a small piece of plastic could do.

Staff and passengers are all encouraged to keep the airport environment clear of all rubbish that could get picked up by wind and end up on the runway.

Auckland Airport opened 51 years ago and operates all day, every day of the year, with more than 18 million passengers coming through in 2016.

It handles an average of 154,000 aircraft movements a year and more than 100 international flights and 300 domestic flights each day.

A new northern runway is planned and expected to be constructed by 2025, with an anticipated growth of 24 million passengers annually by then.