The Air Accident Investigation Unit has found that a passenger plane was cleared for take-off at Cork Airport two years ago despite the presence of a vehicle on the runway.
It is estimated that the two were 700m apart before the situation was rectified on 22 July 2009.
The report outlines how an 'operations vehicle' was cleared to carry out an inspection of Runway 17, as a Boeing 737 carrying 164 passengers and six crew was cleared for take-off from the same runway at that time.
On the realisation that the Boeing was increasing power, the driver of the service vehicle took the initiative to drive it off runway 17.
A second vehicle was also in contact with the control tower around that time.
The report has notes that one of the operators of the Control Tower at Cork Airport requested a fatigue break 15 minutes prior to the incident.
