Dash 8 co-pilot: 'No word on gear faults'

By ALISON HORWOOD

The co-pilot on the Dash 8 that crashed five years ago told the Palmerston North District Court yesterday that he was never given first officer training on what to do if the plane's landing gear malfunctioned.

Barry Brown also said that his former employer, Ansett, had not told him of a recurring problem with the Dash 8's landing gear.

The court had already heard that since the Dash 8 and its sister plane were introduced by Ansett in 1987, 11 landing gear faults had been recorded in more than 50,000 landings in New Zealand.

Mr Brown was giving evidence at a depositions hearing to determine whether former Ansett captain Garry Southeran will go on trial for four charges of manslaughter and three of injuring.

Mr Brown and Southeran were crewing Ansett flight 703 from Auckland to Palmerston North when it slammed into the eastern side of the Tararua Ranges on June 9, 1995.

Crown prosecutor Ben Vanderkolk told the court in his opening address on Monday that Southeran failed to maintain the correct height for the approach of the aircraft into Palmerston North airport and at the point of impact the plane was 1400ft lower than it should have been.

When the landing gear failed, Southeran took control of the aircraft and Mr Brown tried to activate the alternative gear.

The smash killed flight attendant Karen Gallagher, 31, and passengers Jonathon Keall, 43, and David White, 37.

The third passenger, Reg Dixon, died 12 days later after suffering burns to 80 per cent of his body.

In his evidence yesterday, Mr Brown said he had had 10 years' flying experience when he joined Ansett seven months before the crash. Ansett trained him to co-pilot the Dash 8, but his former experience had been in single-crew flying and he was not given specific training in flying with another pilot.

"I don't think the training was particularly tailored for someone with no multicrew experience," he told the court.

He was trained in emergency procedures for a landing gear fault on the Dash 8 but not in a non-flying role.

Hugh Rennie, QC, who heads the legal team for Southeran, asked in cross-examination: "So in this type of situation when the undercarriage didn't come down you wouldn't have had training from Ansett?"

Mr Brown: "No."

Mr Brown told the court he could not remember anything of the crash and had no memory until he woke up in hospital a week later.

"I don't know what happened."

Both he and Southeran suffered head and other serious injuries in the crash.

Neither flew again for Ansett and both were later made redundant.

Mr Brown, now living in Timaru and working as a payments officer, had flown with Southeran about six times before the accident and considered him a competent pilot.

"I believe Captain Southeran to be a safe and professional pilot."

Earlier, Palmerston North detective Dennis O'Rourke told the court of the difficulties police encountered in finding a pilot with the necessary experience who was prepared to appear as an expert witness.

After making inquiries in New Zealand, Australia, the United States and the United Kingdom, the Crown would call a Canadian air accident inspector with 41 years' experience.

The hearing is continuing.