A passenger aircraft with 170 people on board came within 700m (2,300ft) of a vehicle on the runway at Cork Airport, an Air Accident Investigation Unit report has found.
The Boeing 737 had been cleared for take-off by air traffic control staff despite the presence of a police operations vehicle on the runway.
The incident, on July 22nd 2009, prompted the Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) to identify new safety measures, including dual frequencies for ground vehicles and aircraft at the airport.
The report found the aircraft had been cleared for take-off on runway 17 by the air traffic controller at 9.20am that morning.
Sixteen seconds later, the police operations vehicle vacated the runway as the driver saw the aircraft increase power for take off.
The report found the airport official with responsibility for ground vehicles (surface movements controller) in the airport tower had taken a break from his duties after receiving a distressing personal call earlier that morning.
The air traffic controller, who came on duty at 8.50am, took over operations, with two commercial aircraft present and two operations vehicles on the airfield.
The report found traffic levels were relatively light as the surface movements controller left the tower to take a 15-minute break, but the workload increased in his absence, contributing to “a level of distraction” for the air traffic controller who took over tower duties.
The use of two separate frequencies, one for air traffic and one for ground traffic, meant the driver of the police vehicle on the ground did not hear take-off clearance being issued to the Boeing 737.