KEY POINTS:
Airfields are reviewing safety procedures after last weekend's mid-air collision over the Kapiti Coast.
North Shore, the third biggest airfield in the Auckland region, is voluntarily reassessing practices at the busy aerodrome after Sunday's crash between a helicopter and a light plane. The Civil Aviation Authority said it had not been formally advised of other airfields doing the same thing but it expected several would do so.
"No one wants a crash," authority spokesman Bill Sommers said. "I'm sure there will be a number of airfields that will do what North Shore has done. It's good common sense."
By law, CAA reviews the operation of New Zealand's airspace every five years, but many airports consult users on safety issues more frequently than that. If the airfield and its users identify a safety concern, a CAA field safety officer inspects the airfield and, if necessary, a change is made to flying instructions gazetted in the Aeronautical Information Publication.
The Transport Accident Investigation Commission is probing the cause of Sunday's collision, which claimed the lives of Palmerston North flight instructor Dave Fielding, Nelson flying student James Taylor and Kapiti Coast learner pilot Bevan Hookway.
North Shore Aero Club chief flying instructor Tim Maynard said it reviewed its take-off and landing procedures two years ago and was doing so again.
"I would say it's been prompted by the weekend's tragedy, but it is something we do review on a regular basis," said Mr Maynard, who is also chairman of Flying New Zealand's instructors council. "In the weekend we lost something like eight people on the roads. I'm not saying that this tragedy with the aircraft was any less, all I'm saying is that people are killed in road accidents all the time. Aircraft incidents like this are very rare, and when they happen they really do sound an alarm in people's minds."
Paraparaumu Airport, like more than 90 New Zealand airfields, does not have air traffic control. Pilots worldwide regularly fly in uncontrolled airspace and are rigorously trained to keep a constant lookout for other aircraft, Mr Maynard said.
"You try and instil in people a philosophy of 'see and be seen'. Looking out and making sure you are maintaining a good awareness of where you are and where other people are is fundamental."
There had been mid-air collisions at controlled airports, Mr Maynard said.
"I don't think the issue is necessarily associated with whether it is controlled or uncontrolled. If you are being controlled your lookout is probably not as good as it would be if you were uncontrolled.
"The sky, thankfully, is a very, very, big place. It's vast, it's like the ocean. You can hide an awful lot of metal - i.e. aeroplanes - in an awful lot of airspace."
