Pacific Blue pilot 'not pressured to depart'

A Pacific Blue aircraft. Photo / Glenn Jeffrey

Pilots were not pressured to depart if they were not comfortable, Virgin Australia New Zealand (formerly Pacific Blue) flight operations manager Geoffrey Lowe told the Queenstown District Court yesterday.

He was giving evidence on the fourth day of the trial of a 54-year-old pilot, of Auckland, who denies one charge of operating a plane carelessly on June 22, 2010. His name is suppressed.

Judge Kevin Phillips asked Mr Lowe what happened if a pilot "is on the ground making a call he's not coming back?''

"Then he shouldn't leave. We don't pressure any of our pilots to depart if they're not comfortable to depart ... they should [stay],'' Mr Lowe replied.

Mr Lowe, who is responsible for maintaining the competency of pilots, said one of the main considerations for the company with Queenstown was the "high climb required to clear the obstacles'', particularly in the event of an engine failure during take-off.

"It's a bit like doing pushups with two arms.

"If I'm lucky, I'm able to get two push ups, but if I take one arm away, I'm lucky to get half [a push up].

"If you take away one engine [of a plane] you don't necessarily get half the power.''

Mr Lowe told Judge Phillips, when asked, the airline put no pressure on any pilot to fly if they were not comfortable.

"There's no pressure for any aircraft overnighting in Queenstown when it should be overnighting in Sydney?'', Judge Phillips asked.

"I sometimes think it's more of a perception. We certainly do not pressure anybody to leave,'' Mr Lowe replied.

"If they're not comfortable, then they should stay, whether that's Queenstown, Brisbane or Christchurch.

"We have a duty manager system in place _ a pilot rings a central number, hits a few buttons and that will be directed to a duty manager.

"We all have mobile phones, we're all available [if a pilot is unsure].

"If he [the pilot] doesn't want to go, he doesn't go.''