Simple Flying - Andrew Curran
Queensland's Sunshine Coast Airport temporarily closed its only runway on Tuesday after what was described as a sinkhole was discovered down one end.
Maroochydore/Sunshine Coast Airport (MCY) temporarily closed its two-year-old runway earlier this week after airport workers found what was described as a sinkhole down one end of the runway. The busy regional airport closed its runway for several hours on Tuesday morning, exposing one of the vulnerabilities of single-runway airports.
According to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), the airport closed the 2450m x 45m Runway 13/31 and issued a Notice to Airmen on Tuesday until later revoking that mid-morning. Whether it was a bona fide sinkhole, a more mundane pothole, or simply some wear and tear hasn't been ascertained. However, a sinkhole generally has significant geophysical implications and would take more than a few hours to patch up and paper over.
