Pilot fined for careless takeoff

Aircraft at Ardmore Airport. File photo / Getty Images

A pilot who made a raft of errors when taking off in poor weather with three passengers on board has been fined $2300.

Private pilot Roger Ralph Dickie, 54, was convicted and fined in Wanganui District Court today for carelessly operating an aircraft at Ardmore Aerodrome in February this year.

Dickie took off in the wrong direction and flew as low as 30 metres altitude through an area reserved for helicopter takeoffs and landings.

He also turned right after takeoff, sending his plane through an area reserved for aircraft flying by instruments, instead of following the published aerodrome procedures that required him to turn left.

Dickie later landed at Matarangi Aerodrome, despite the airstrip being closed to aircraft at the time.

A Civil Aviation Authority investigation found Dickie also failed to correctly maintain his pilot logbook, aircraft technical log and daily flight records.

Authority enforcement manager Rob Scriven said Dickie's explanation - that poor weather and bad visibility caused him to make the dangerous turn - was not acceptable.

"If weather is causing you to make non-standard turns at an aerodrome, then that's a very good reason not to have taken off in the first place."

Mr Scriven said student pilots at Ardmore had stayed on the ground that day due to the weather conditions.

Dickie was fined $2300 and ordered to pay court costs of $664.45.