Pilots sneak on runway for late-night car thrill

Queenstown Airport. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Two pilots used their airside security passes to sneak onto Queenstown Airport runway in the middle of the night to race a car.

The men were seen by contractors, working overnight on the runway, and were also recorded by security cameras as they drove the car down the main strip.

The pilots put the lives of passengers and maintenance contractors at risk, said the airport corporation's chief executive, Steve Sanderson.

They were banned from all airport land for two years.

The scenic flight pilots drove a car across the airport apron and down the main runway on Sunday, May 9, about midnight.

"They put people's lives at risk and abused their access privileges," Mr Sanderson said.

They had used their airside access passes, "given with position, trust and status".

Queenstown police investigated, but criminal charges were not pursued.

Mr Sanderson said the airport would not take any further action. He understood the two pilots accepted the trespass notices and were not seeking to challenge the decision.

They had said they were not intoxicated. Mr Sanderson declined to reveal their names, ages, or the company they worked for.

He said the car could have left foreign-object debris on the runway.

While airport firefighters conducted a full survey of the apron and runway each morning, undetected debris could have "serious consequences" for aviation safety, he said.

A metal strip on a runway was blamed by investigators as the cause of the Air France Concorde crash in July 2000.

The jet took off in flames from Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris and crashed soon afterwards, killing 113 people.

Mr Sanderson said the security gate the pilots used at Queenstown was now closed and locked.

Airside gate access was being reviewed. Personnel would have to enter go through a single secure gate.

Talks were under way for it to be staffed by Aviation Security during airport opening hours, Mr Sanderson said.

"The key issue for us is, Queenstown Airport is no longer a regional airport. It's gone through the threshold of becoming international, with high passenger numbers and high revenue, and security is paramount."

Civil Aviation Authority spokesman Bill Sommer said yesterday that the incident had been reported as a security and not an operational matter.

"We assigned a security investigator and he received reports from the aircraft operator and the investigation conducted by the airport company.

"He was satisfied with the investigation and the action was appropriate and the case was closed."

- OTAGO DAILY TIMES