Pilot questions safety of contingency plan

Photo / File

The first officer who flew with the Pacific Blue pilot charged with careless use of an aircraft on June 22, 2010 has questioned the safety of a common Queenstown contingency plan in case of an engine failure.

Christian Rush, a qualified pilot of 23 years, told the Queenstown District Court the figure of eight contingency plan he and his captain chose to avoid that day would not be a safe option in case of emergency.

"[During the figure of eight] I cannot fulfil the obligations of my company, of my captain and of the 64 passengers in the back with that red screen of death staring at me, no thank you."

The "red screen of death" Mr Rush referred to was the red warning in a cockpit that tells a pilot when an engine has failed.

The 54-year-old pilot in question has been taken to court by the Civil Aviation Authority after leaving Queenstown Airport in a Boeing 737 carrying 71 passengers bound for Sydney in marginal conditions of cloud, darkness and with crosswinds reportedly exceeding the company wet runway limit.

Mr Rush said he had flown into Queenstown only twice before this particular departure.

He had pulled out of Queenstown night operations because they were "way too much work, too much stress" and he was "ill-trained for it".

When prosecution lawyer Fletcher Pilditch asked if the incident had "scared" him, he confessed it had "aroused" some feeling, but he had not discussed it with his company until he was notified an investigation was under way.

"I wouldn't say I was scared, I felt an unease."

He had not reported his concern over the contingency plan for Queenstown because he had "diminished confidence" from previous reports he had rejected by his company.

"I had an unease about the [figure of eight] circuit being performed.

"Whether or not the weather was good or bad it occurred to me that this figure of eight pattern was contrary to the rules."

The "compromise" of the pattern was one of the reasons an alternative contingency plan was taken up by both he and the pilot he said.

"Pilots make up contingencies all the time based on the weather at the time."

He said while the weather conditions would have allowed them to perform the figure of eight circuit, they would not have chosen it over their alternative.

Mr Rush, who has not flown into Queenstown since, said he and the pilot took wind readings off the nearby windsocks.

"I find them easy [to read] and he's a way better aviator than I am. I have every confidence in his ability."