The Pacific Blue pilot charged with careless use of an aircraft appears in Queenstown District Court for the third week today.
On June 22, 2010 a 54-year-old Pacific Blue pilot from Auckland left Queenstown for Sydney in a Boeing 737 at 5.25pm, after the Pacific Blue evening Civil Twilight time of 5.14pm.
The flight was scheduled to leave Queenstown at 4.30pm, but the pilot had received news of a front passing through.
The Civil Aviation Authority launched an investigation shortly afterwards, and charged the pilot with careless use of an aircraft after he allegedly breached the safety conditions in aspects of cloud and lighting conditions, crosswinds and his decisions surrounding an alternative emergency contingency plan.
The pilot was stood down from flying shortly after the incident and has not flown an aircraft since.
The case so far
• March 5, 2012: The case began in the Queenstown District Court in front of Judge Kevin Phillips. Defence lawyer Matthew Muir, of Auckland, opened by telling the court the pilot was "probably top of the tree" in terms of aircraft qualification.
The pilot denied the charges, saying he had met the basic daylight requirements, formed an alternative contingency plan to Christchurch and would not need to land back in Queenstown in an event of engine failure.
• March 6: Evidence in court showed a fire rescue service member, Nigel Henderson, had called the control tower after the pilot had taken off.
The control tower conversation revealed that crosswind levels of 17 knots and wind gusts of 28 knots were reported before take-off.
The airline maximum for take-off is 16 knots on a wet runway.
Two airport CCTV cameras had filmed the departure, one recording appearing significantly darker than the other.
• March 7: Civil Aviation Authority witness and former Queenstown resident Robert Clark told the court he had seen the aeroplane depart in what he described as "whiteout" conditions.
He said he watched the aeroplane fly past him near Andrews Rd and up Frankton Arm before it banked left at an angle of "20 to 30 degrees" near the golf course.
St John administrator Lynn Cain also expressed concern in the witness box.
Queenstown boat skipper and pilot Max Perkins had telephoned the Civil Aviation Authority and felt several witness allegations had been sensationalised.
• March 8: Virgin Australia New Zealand flight operations manager Geoffrey Lowe told the court pilots were not under pressure to depart if they were uncomfortable.
"If they're not comfortable, they should stay, whether that's Queenstown, Brisbane or Christchurch."
One passenger witness from Adelaide, Simon Christie, told the court that moments before take-off passengers were told something akin to "We're going to give it a go" by either the pilot or co-pilot.
• March 9: Pacific Blue's investigation into the flight concluded "no unacceptable level of risk" and no wilful intent by the flight crew not to conform with the company's operational procedures.
• March 12: "Don't sink" was sounded in the cockpit when flying over the vicinity of Lake Wakatipu, the court was told by Air New Zealand pilot of 39 years, Captain Colin Glasgow.
"Pilots will fly their entire career and not hear these warnings," the prosecution witness said.
A "bank angle" cockpit alert was also set off during the departure, indicating the aeroplane was on an angle greater than 30 degrees.
• March 13: During his second day in the witness stand, Captain Glasgow criticised the pilot's use of windsocks to measure crosswinds.
"I'm not sure what exactly was in the mind of the captain when he took off. All I am saying is, it didn't look good and I wouldn't have taken off."
• March 14: Expert witnesses and pilots Stuart Julian and Fred Douglas stated in their evidence if faced with the same conditions as the pilot they would not have applied an anti-ice increment.
This differed from Captain Glasgow's view the increment should have been applied before departure.
• March 15: Civil Aviation Authority general airlines manager Mark Hughes told the court the pilot had refused an interview after the incident and the departure was a "risk for all on board".
However, Civil Aviation Authority investigator Steve Paulson admitted he had been on holiday when the pilot had attempted to communicate a week later through email.
• March 15-July 1: Case adjourned.
• July 2: Mr Hughes told Judge Phillips the pilot's decision-making had been "flawed" and in Queenstown's terrain a pilot could not afford to operate on "guesswork".
• July 3: The pilot took the witness stand for the first time and told the court he had no regrets, but if he had known he would be in court and stood down from flying he would not have taken off.
"I acknowledge absolutely the company and authority have a different view. If I was aware at the time I would not have departed."
He also told the court the "don't sink" and "bank angle" warnings came as no surprise, and likened them to a car's reverse beeping function.
• July 4: The court heard the pilot had disagreed with the control tower over reported cloud and crosswind levels and had based his decision to depart on his own experience.
He denied he took an "I know best" approach.
• July 5: First officer Christian Rush took the stand and said he backed his captain's ability. He questioned the safety of Queenstown airport's contingency plan.
He admitted the flight had aroused a feeling of "unease".
• July 6: Passenger and Cromwell resident James Mead appeared for the defence and told the court he and his wife were not alarmed at any point during the flight.
"I was too busy reading".
Mr Mead also told the court he had approached the Civil Aviation Authority about this and did not hear back from them.
Two other witnesses and contract engineers, Brett Glass and Robert Wales, indicated the cloud base and light conditions were better than the control tower had indicated. Mr Wales said he had been interviewed by the Civil Aviation Authority during its investigation and was not asked to be a witness.
• July 9: Case continues.
