By ROSALEEN MACBRAYNE
TAURANGA - A Tauranga man who lost his wife and daughter in a plane crash last year wants to know why the 81-year-old pilot was allowed to fly.
A Civil Aviation Authority investigation found that Neville McDonald, of Marlborough, had enough quinine in his system to cause sudden blindness when he flew the Piper Cherokee carrying Heather Williams, aged 48, and Hayley Williams, 23.
Kel Williams said yesterday that he was staggered that a person who had a record of three air-space incursions had still been allowed to fly a passenger-carrying aircraft.
"After reading the results of the air accident report ... it has left me in grave doubts as to whether the pilot should have been flying any aircraft, let alone an aircraft carrying passengers."
Mr Williams said he would raise questions at a coroner's inquest.
Quinine, best known in malaria treatment, is commonly prescribed to alleviate cramps.
The authority report said Mr McDonald, who was flying the Williams women home to Tauranga last May after a visit to Blenheim, had a quinine concentration of between 7 and 11 micrograms a millilitre - well above the 5 mcg/ml known to cause sudden episodes of blindness.
He had not declared some prescription medicine to his assessor at a required medical examination, the investigation found.
Dr Stewart Jessamine, senior medical adviser for the Ministry of Health, said quinine was relatively safe in low doses.
Moderate to high doses over a period of months or years could cause temporary blindness, but most users would have it prescribed by their doctors for cramps and would be on 200ml or less a day, he said.
The dose for malaria sufferers would be 10 or 12 times higher than that.
An Air Force doctor, Wing Commander Len Bagnall, said quinine was unlikely to be used by military aircrew. It was on a lengthy list of banned medicines for anyone flying with the New Zealand, Australian, Canadian or United States forces.
Wing Commander Bagnall said quinine was no longer the standard treatment for malaria in many countries.
Should it be prescribed to Air Force pilots in malaria-prone places, they would be grounded during treatment.
A Civil Aviation Authority spokesman, Martyn Gosling, said pilots - and motorists - should take expert advice about mixing any medications and be cautious of side-effects and cumulative effects.
The authority has recommended an investigation into the adequacy of mental and physical standards in the aviation environment, and that over-the-counter medications that could present a hazard are identified by way of a safety publication.
Crash report staggers grieving next-of-kin
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