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A coroner has blamed pilot fatigue for the deaths of two men killed when a topdressing plane crashed in 2003.
In his inquest findings Coroner Wallace Bain questioned both the work practices of their employer, Wanganui Aero Work Ltd and the responsibilities of the Civil Aviation Authority.
Mr Bain said Wanganui Aero Work should have had safe working practices in place to assess fatigue risk management and CAA had failed in its responsibility to educate and enforce agricultural aviation industry safety.
Today a CAA spokesman told NZPA there was action under way to change the rules regarding agricultural aviation operations and the authority stood by its accident investigation report that found other factors were also important aspects of the accident.
Jonathon Lourie and Richard McRae, who worked for Wanganui Aero Work, died in April 2003 when their topdressing plane crashed while spreading urea northeast of Douglas, in Taranaki.
Mr Lourie, the pilot, had flown on three consecutive days prior to the accident. This included a flight between Wanganui and Stratford, and two 14-hour days of topdressing work.
On the day of the accident, both men had been on duty for just over 12 hours, the Wanganui Chronicle reported.
Department of Labour representative Lorraine Earl told the inquest Mr Lourie had taken off and landed about 80 times on the day of the accident.
"There is no doubt in my opinion that both Joe Lourie and Richard McRae were fatigued and that this was a contributory factor to the accident," she said.
Under cross-examination, she said it was well accepted that excessive hours were worked in the agricultural aviation industry, and there needed to be a cultural change with the entire industry accepting pilots were susceptible to fatigue, which caused accidents.
In December Mr Lourie's widow, Nicola, told the inquest her husband was a relatively inexperienced pilot and had no management experience, yet was Wanganui Aero Work's Stratford area manager as well as its pilot.
He sometimes spent two or three hours on the phone at night, organising jobs, she said.
In the first months of 2003 Mr Lourie once worked on 11 consecutive days, with nine to 11 hours on duty on at least four of them.
"I strongly believe that my husband should never have been a pilot area manager with the little experience he had.
"It contributed to his level of fatigue.
"The fatigue issue needs to be addressed," she said.
In his findings, Mr Bain said it was clear Mr Lourie and Mr McRae were working long hours and this contributed significantly to the accident.
He said Wanganui Aero Works should have had safe working practices in place to assess fatigue risk management, and these needed to be implemented immediately.
Mr Bain also found that CAA had failed in its responsibility to educate and enforce agricultural aviation industry safety.
He said the Government needed to urgently undertake research into pilot fatigue and enact appropriate regulations to control pilot hours.
The CAA spokesman said today there was already a rule-making process under way to change the rules regarding agricultural operations.
"This will include changes, among other things, that address the issues of fatigue, including fatigue management systems and the requirements for a fatigue management plan in each operator's exposition."
He said the authority was satisfied that these steps when combined with occupational safety and health requirements satisfactorily address the issues of fatigue management in agricultural aviation that had been identified by the coroner.
"The CAA stands by its accident investigation report which was accepted by the coroner that noted that fatigue was one of several factors to the accident and not the sole cause of the accident," he said.
Wanganui Aero Work's chief operations officer was not available for comment.
- NZPA
