Pilots say airport unsafe

Airline pilots have branded Taupo Airport one of the least safe in the world and say people flying into and out of the town are putting their lives at risk.

But aircraft operators at Taupo have rubbished the claims and say they have never been asked for their views.

Safety issues at the airport have come under scrutiny before, with a 2004 Civil Aviation Authority report saying Taupo needed safety systems installed to prevent planes colliding with one another or parachutists.

Early last year, Civil Aviation director John Jones accepted 21 safety recommendations in that report but said he was not convinced an Aerodrome Flight Information System was needed at Taupo.

At a meeting of the International Federation of Airline Pilots Associations last month, Taupo was given a black-star rating.

The federation set out 11 special operating procedures pilots should take before flying into Taupo.

The airport with the next highest number of operating procedures is understood to be South Africa's Umtata, with five.

New Zealand Airline Pilots Association vice-president Glen Kenny said he would not use Taupo.

"I used to fly in there. The last time I flew into there was in 1996, but I wouldn't go in there now."

Taupo Airport Users Group president Toby Clark said the association was "scaremongering".

It was "ludicrous to suggest the pilots and owners of 23 different organisations, all of whom require CAA certificates, would collectively and knowingly operate in dangerous" conditions, he said.

But Mr Kenny said the terrain and weather were concerns.

Three New Zealand airports have black-star ratings - Taupo, Wellington and Queenstown.

Concerns about the latter airports are at a much lower level and problems pilots have with them are already being addressed by local authorities, Mr Kenny said.

"Taupo is quite a bit higher in terms of comparison. Basically it's a combination of the traffic that operates there, terrain and weather."

Pilots' main cause for concern was the potential for mid-air collision, a problem proper control systems would address, he said. He did not know why the CAA had not endorsed its own report and ordered an air control system be set up at the airport.

"I don't know why that decision was rejected. We've asked and we've never really had that question satisfactorily answered."

Pilots had legal advice that they could not refuse to fly to Taupo Airport because such an action would be an illegal strike and breach the Employment Relations Act, Mr Kenny said.

"Other than what we're doing, we don't know what else we can do to highlight the problem.

"We have to convince the owners of airport, the CAA and the Government - anybody we can think of - to tell them that we're really concerned about safety at Taupo."

The CAA could mandate that Taupo needed to upgrade its air traffic systems, or the airport owners could carry out improvements themselves, Mr Kenny said.

"The owners have listened to us, but they haven't come to any firm conclusions as of yet."

Traffic at Taupo Airport has grown 52 per cent in the past eight years. Statistics for 2003 show 43,676 air movements that year, making it busier than airports such as Dunedin and Rotorua.

The world's largest commercial tandem skydive drop zone is also at the airport.

Taupo Airport chief executive Brian Pentecost said a joint working party with airport users was working through a range of airport issues - including safety - with recommendations due this month.

The working party recommendations would be referred to the CAA for its comments.

Mr Jones of the CAA said he absolutely guaranteed Taupo was a safe airport.

"If Taupo wasn't safe we would be taking action. There are procedures in Taupo now that make the place totally safe."

Parachute operators had warning systems in place and they and other aviation companies would cease to fly out of Taupo if they felt it was unsafe, Mr Jones said.

The CAA came under fire this week after the Christchurch coroner criticised the authority in his findings into the Air Adventures crash.

Transport Minister Annette King has requested monthly updates from her ministry about the CAA's progress in implementing the coroner's findings and is to meet the authority's chairman next week.

What they say

Pilots: This is one of the most unsafe airports in the world. The Civil Aviation Authority has been warned but takes no action.

Civil Aviation Authority: The airport is safe. Aviation companies would not use it if they thought it wasn't.