Pilots stood down while take-off investigated

File photo / Brett Phibbs

Pacific Blue says the pilots of a plane that may have breached flight rules when taking off from Queenstown airport have been stood down.

The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) is investigating after the plane departed in darkness and bad weather on June 22, potentially endangering 140 passengers and crew.

Planes must depart no later than 30 minutes before twilight from the airport, which is surrounded by mountainous terrain and has no radar or runway lights.

Pacific Blue said today the pilots had been stood down, which it said was standard practice in such investigations.

It said the Boeing 737 took off "a few minutes" after daylight hours, and the company was cooperating with investigators.

CAA spokesman Bill Sommer said the flight "appears to have taken off late" and investigators would speak to the pilot, the airline and witnesses.

"We're determining what happened and the circumstances around it," he said.

The visual flight rules at the airport were there as a safety precaution, Mr Sommer said.

"If anything does happen, they've got sufficient time to return to the airfield and land."

Airlines operating out of Queenstown are responsible for enforcing the flight rules.

The flight to Sydney had been scheduled to leave at 4.30pm, but apparently did not depart until 5.25pm - 20 minutes past the 5.05pm cutoff on one of the shortest days of the year.

One witness, Queenstown harbour master Marty Black, said it was "virtually dark" when the plane took off into a front and heavy fog.

"Not only was it dark, but the weather was bad...that's not a good mix at all," he said.

"It was just a complete white-out."

The plane had been flying "abnormally low".

"It took off, it was airborne, and it basically dropped in height. It didn't climb at all," he said.

"I wouldn't have expected it to be flying that low and into a front."

Prime Minister John Key said today he had seen only media reports on the incident.

"If they are accurate then they would be very concerning. New Zealand takes its record in terms of commercial aviation safety very seriously.

"My understanding is that Civil Aviation will be investigating the matter, and rightfully so."

- NZPA