Airport incidents 'putting lives at risk'

Lasers pointed at pilots, near misses between aircraft and gas bottles taken onto planes are just some of the alarming safety breaches that have occured at Melbourne Airport.

Figures obtained by 7News reveal 700 incidents have been reported at Tullamarine over the past two years.

Hundreds of thousands of people travel through Melbourne Airport every day, unaware of the dangerous mistakes that could cost lives.

Among the most serious reports, 11 near misses and planes taxing up the wrong runway or without clearance a staggering 76 times.

Incidents including a crew becoming "distracted" and landing the plane without clearance, a united jet smashing into an aerobridge and the crucial radar at the airport breaking down.

And late last year a laser was pointed into the eyes of a pilot as his crew attempted to land, a criminal offence that could have catastrophic results.

“It can certainly interfere with the vision of the pilot and in the worst case temporarily blind them - this is really bad stuff,” says Martin Dolan of the Australian Transport safety Bureau.

There were 73 engine malfunctions, including leaking fuel, holes in wings and a plane being overfuelled by one tonne.

Gas bottles, 250kg of dry ice, petrol and a fire extinguisher were among the dangerous items discovered, only after the plane had landed.

Pilots also complained of having trouble seeing landing lights on the runway at night - only to discover they had been turned off.

According to Dolan, “that can mean total loss of control of the aircraft and a collision with the ground.”

Melbourne Airport says 90 people are employed to monitor safety at Tullamarine and that only seven incidents warranted further investigation.