Fatal mid-air crash 'like bomb'

Investigators do an initial check of the wreckage of the Cessna in which Jessica Neeson and her student died yesterday afternoon. Photo / NZPA

A mid-air collision that killed a young flight instructor and her student in Manawatu yesterday sounded like "a massive bomb", a shocked resident says.

Two Cessnas collided near the Feilding Aerodrome about 3.30pm, killing Jessica Neeson, 27, and her student pilot.

The student was in her 60s and from the Kapiti Coast area, police said this morning.

Her name would be released once all family members have been told of her death, central district police spokeswoman Kim Perks said.

Their plane crashed into a paddock on nearby Durie Rd but the other Cessna - flown by a man in his 20s - was able to return to the airfield.

Anna MacDonald was talking to a friend in the driveway of her home in Aorangi Rd when the collision occurred.

She said it sounded like a massive bomb. "It was like on those war movies; it was like it was nose-diving, then a 'boom'. My heart just sank. I thought it was a plane, but ... I couldn't see any smoke or flames."

Police and aviation investigators later inspected the wreckage. "We don't know at the moment what's happened but there's obviously been some sort of incident between the two aircraft in the air," said police spokeswoman Kim Perks.

Flight Training Manawatu owner Michael Bryant - whose school owned both Cessnas - said the instructor had been working there about five years. He described her as "a wonderful person".

"We're just highly distressed and very, very sad about the whole thing. I'm really struggling to get my head around this. I'm struggling with all the emotions."

The flight school has suspended operations as Transport Accident Investigation Commission officials launch an investigation into the crash.

Ms Neeson's uncle, John Neeson, last night paid tribute to his niece, who he said was a meticulous pilot who lived for her job.

He said she was a "really lovely, kind-hearted person".

"[She had] a nice personality. She would have been very good at teaching flying because she was very patient and had a nice manner about her."

Mr Neeson said he flew with his niece on a flight from New Plymouth around the Taranaki coastline about two years ago.

"She was absolutely thorough in every little thing she did.

"She would even comment about the other flyers when they were coming in at the airport, that they weren't quite correct sometimes, or little errors they'd made. She was very conscientious and committed."

Ms Neeson had plans to work as a flight examiner, carrying out checks and flight tests on behalf of the Director of the Civil Aviation Authority. This is regarded as one of the most demanding roles in aviation.

To do that, she needed to get her A-level licence. She was also studying towards a bachelors degree in adult education.

"The instructing consumed her life. It was her number one interest. She was a very independent person, very confident."

Ms Neeson grew up near Tokirima, south of Taumarunui, and boarded at Sacred Heart Girls' College in Hamilton.

She was the eldest of three children. Her brothers are in their 20s.

Mr Bryant said about 30 grieving staff gathered last night at the aerodrome to support one another in their ordeal.

He said the accident was the flight school's worst in 20 years.

Ag-Air pilot Hallett Griffin said yesterday was a beautiful day, with light, 10-knot winds.

He said the airstrip was usually busy servicing flight training schools and crop dusters. The area is popular with international flight students.

Civil Aviation Authority spokesman Bill Sommer said an investigator and an engineer - who were already in the Palmerston North/Feilding area for an Aviation Industry Association conference - travelled immediately to the crash site to help to secure the scene.

But the CAA was not investigating the crash because the Transport Accident Investigation Commission had taken charge.

Commission deputy chief investigator Ken Mathews said investigators were making their way to the scene last night.

"We have the prerogative to investigate anything.

"Where we have a belief that there could be significant implications for transport safety, then we will get involved.

"In this case it looks as though there have been two training aircraft involved in a mid-air collision and there could be issues there in terms of training and supervision and control, so we just think that's appropriate for us to look at."

Mr Mathews said the commission also investigated a mid-air collision between a light aeroplane and a small helicopter over Paraparaumu in February 2008 which resulted in the deaths of two student pilots and a flight examiner.

"We just want to make sure that there are no parallels to that ... We just want to satisfy ourselves that things are okay."

VISUAL FLIGHT RULES APPLIED

Although the pilots involved in yesterday's fatal mid-air collision near Feilding were flying barely 15km from Palmerston North's busy provincial airport, the planes would not have been flying under the jurisdiction of Air Traffic Control.

The area where the crash occurred was an "uncontrolled airspace", for small planes flying between designated altitudes, Airways New Zealand corporate communications manager Nikki Hawkey said.

That meant the pilots were responsible for checking where they were flying, by looking out the window and using any equipment such as a satellite tracking device, which was "like a GPS for planes".

"The onus is on them to be aware of what traffic is going on around them," Ms Hawkey said. "When they are in uncontrolled airspace, they will talk to each other.

"Air Traffic Control operates and files flight plans for general aviation [small] planes, but in uncontrolled airspace, which is where this would have occurred in Feilding, the responsibility is on the pilots."

- Martin Johnston

AERIAL COLLISIONS
November 1993: Auckland's police Eagle helicopter and a fixed-wing traffic-spotting aircraft collide over Auckland's central motorway, killing two police officers and two civilians.
February 2006: Two single-engine Piper Cherokees collide near Shannon, southwest of Palmerston North, killing Massey University aviation students Brandon James Gedge, 20, and 27-year-old Dae Jin Hwang.
February 2008: A Cessna 152 and a Robinson R22 helicopter collide over Paraparaumu on the Kapiti Coast, killing three. The crash also damages homes and commercial premises.

- additional reporting: NZPA