A disagreement over wind and cloud readings took place between the control tower and the Pacific Blue pilot charged with operating a Boeing 737 carelessly two years ago, the Queenstown district court heard this morning.
While control tower operators recorded cloud below 1500ft and winds up to 20 knots, the54-year-old pilot says he assessed otherwise.
The commercial pilot of 33 years, who has name suppression, was in charge of a flight which left Queenstown carrying 71 passengers bound for Sydney after the Pacific Blue evening civil twilight (ECT) cut-off time of 5.14pm.
The pilot defended his judgment to depart in conditions of cloud, with crosswinds and a wet runway, by saying the departure was done in a "controlled and managed" manner.
"At no stage was there ever loss of control of the aircraft."
Defence lawyer Fletcher Pilditch questioned his use of windsocks to accurately measure wind gusts as well as his visual reference point of The Remarkables mountains to measure the altitude of cloud.
The pilot claimed winds were under the required 16 knot minimum and cloud was well above 1500ft in the visual segment part of departure.
