The Pacific Blue pilot charged with carelessly operating a Boeing 737 two years ago told the Queenstown District Court yesterday he disagreed with weather information supplied to him by Queenstown air traffic controllers, but denied taking a "he knew best" attitude.
The 54-year-old Auckland pilot's flying ability was supported by his first officer on the June 22, 2010, flight, Christian Rush, who took the stand late yesterday and said the pilot was a far better aviator than himself.
The pilot, with 33 years' experience, was in charge of a flight carrying 71 passengers bound for Sydney, and for a second day defended his judgement of departing in marginal weather conditions of cloud, crosswinds and a wet runway.
He said he was cognisant of the wind, and noted gusts were becoming further apart.
"On the day, I based my decision on my experience and what I had seen. The ultimate assessment for the take-off is the pilot and his judgement."
He told the court that after asking the control tower on "three or four occasions" for an update on the weather, they had come back to him with different perspectives that to him were "incorrect".
"What they were seeing or reporting was incorrect ... I would suggest evidence doesn't support cloud extended as far as he had said."
Audio evidence yesterday showed the pilot and control tower operators had disagreed over an assessment of the weather directly before departure, including the crosswind strength and cloud altitude.
Operators recorded cloud below 1500ft and winds up to 20 knots, but the Auckland pilot said he assessed otherwise.
He claims winds were under the required 16-knot minimum and cloud well above the 1500ft required minimum to depart.
"The weather was not ideal, I'm the first to admit ... I'm saying it was controlled and mannered."
Defence lawyer Fletcher Pilditch later asked if the actions on that day were below the standards the pilot had set himself: "In your career, you have been no maverick, have you? Can I suggest this was not just another day at the office?"
The pilot replied: "The regret I do have about it is that I was at odds with the company view".
The pilot, who has name suppression and has been stood down since the incident, indicated to Judge Michael Phillips he should not be sitting before the court.
The court will decide whether he will fly an aeroplane again.
"I've thought about that day a lot over the last two years and I look back and, given the exact set of circumstances and given the same knowledge, I would have done the exact same thing.
"On the day, at the time; I think yes, I did a good job. I think everyone was safe."
