It's a fact of life that mistakes happen.
Most people make mistakes in their personal lives and in their jobs. Companies and organisations make them. It's how we learn and grow and become better.
Thankfully, most times, mistakes don't have major consequences.
But sometimes they can be deadly.
The case of the Tauranga flight
that narrowly avoided a mid-air collision with another plane is a case in point.
This paper yesterday reported the incident on page 3. (Read it here...)
Air New Zealand pilots on the flight from Auckland to Tauranga helped to avert a mid-air disaster that air-traffic controllers failed to spot as the plane came within a few hundred metres of a light aircraft.
The incident happened on August 9 last year but the findings of an inquiry have only now been released.
The Air New Zealand Bombardier, carrying 31 passengers and three crew, nearly collided with the single-pilot Cessna 182.
The planes came dangerously close at a height of about 10,000ft near Mercer.
Air traffic controllers at Auckland Airport had cleared the flight paths of both aircraft but did not recognise the developing situation and missed an automated collision warning.
It was the Air New Zealand pilots who were the heroes, making an immediate descent to avoid collision.
Anyone travelling on a plane puts his or her life into the hands of pilots, mechanics, air traffic controllers and others involved in getting and keeping aircraft in the air. We trust them to have skills, systems and checks in place to safeguard against things going wrong.
A near-miss of this sort is unacceptable and rings alarm bells.
The Transport Accident Investigation Commission that investigated this incident made several recommendations - including a review of some procedures at Mercer, and that more be done to look at the performance of individual air traffic controllers, and steps to reduce communications errors.
Those recommendations went to the Director of Civil Aviation - and the good news is the director has taken the commission's report on board. Changes will be made.
It is heartening to see official agencies co-operating in such a manner, but this case begs the question: How many other problems that could lead to disaster lie hidden in our civil aviation system?
It is critical the public have full confidence in planes and the people who manage them. A bad day in the control tower can mean tragedy.
