Pilot's widow in report blunder receives apology

By STUART DYE

The widow and mother of a pilot and two children who died in a plane crash has received an apology from the Transport Accident Investigation Commission because it released a report on the crash before she had seen it.

Surgeon Guy Lawton and sons Matthew and Samuel died when the Piper Navajo they were in crashed near Feilding Aerodrome in December.

A report into the incident had criticised Mr Lawton for taking the wrong course of action and not following his training before the crash.

But the commission failed to inform Mr Lawton's widow Pam Mitchell of the results of the report.

"An administrative error resulted in both the draft and advance copy of the final report into the accident being sent to a nonexistent number in Ms Mitchell's street, resulting in the commission having to make a special delivery of the reports to her," said deputy chairwoman Pauline Winter.

Advance copies were usually provided in the interests of fair process and also to help families prepare for and cope with public interest generated by the report, she said.

"While Ms Mitchell did get the opportunity to review and comment on the draft report, it is extremely regrettable that she did not receive the final report in advance of its public release."

Ms Winter visited Ms Mitchell yesterday to make a formal apology and deliver the final report.

Commission bosses are planning administrative changes to stop the blunder happening again.

The report said Mr Lawton had turned back not long after take-off due to a suspected engine problem.

It was possible the engine was working but the pilot may have believed he had engine failure after mistakenly turning off the left fuel selector instead of the outboard fuel tank, the report said.

Being tired and supervising his sons may have distracted him, it said.

The plane's left propeller was feathered (its power had been turned off) and the pilot flew an irregular low-level circuit while trying to land.

The plane plunged nose first into the ground, killing the trio.

The commission said it did not find any conclusive reason for the propeller to have been feathered.

It found the pilot chose an improper course of action and flew an "improbable circuit" as he tried to land with only one engine working.

The plane had been properly maintained and the pilot had not followed training he had received from two instructors. One had previously told him not to attempt landings at Feilding on one engine due to the short runway.

"Had the pilot applied the techniques ... the accident would probably not have occurred," said the report.