Urgent maintenance after Qantas plane rips up tarmac on take-off

A video posted to X shows a section of the tarmac being blown backwards after a Qantas aircraft moved over it during take-off around midday on Sunday, September 15.

X (formerly Twitter) user Alex said: "Drama at Perth Airport this afternoon as a Qantas A330 rips up part of the newly relaid section of runway 03.

"There was a Silkway B748-8F due to land after this & now [the aircraft] was diverted to Adelaide."

A Perth Airport spokesperson said on Monday that pavement damage was identified on the airport's main runway following an aircraft departure and urgent maintenance was required.

They confirmed the pavement had failed in an area that had recently been upgraded and minor works would be undertaken to fix the issue.

"These additional works are based on the advice of an external civil engineer, sought as part of an ongoing investigation to understand the cause of the pavement failure," the spokesperson said.

"The incident impacted around 20 metres of pavement and occurred on a 110-metre section which had just been overlaid as part of a planned renewal of the 3440-metre runway.

"As this was the first section completed, no other parts of the runway are impacted."

They said the main runway would continue to be used for departures while the recommended additional works are completed, and the cross runway will remain fully-operational.

"Only one freight service made a diversion during the time with all other services continuing to operate safely," they said.

The footage on X, originally captured by YPPH Plane Guy, has been shared multiple times.

X user Peter said: "Why is it the fault of the aircraft. Poor airport maintenance is the culprit."

Saw Travel said: "I can't believe the runway would break under wind pressure."

Tumbril said: "Framed like it was Qantas' fault. If the runway can't take the heat and blast, that's the airport's fault."