Editorial: Accident highlights serious issue

Mark Dawson, Editor of Wanganui Chronicle

ATALLY of 28 accidents in five years, with eight deaths, suggests a serious safety issue.

And that issue was brought home in shocking fashion here in Whanganui with the death of helicopter pilot Peter Robb, who was killed when his aircraft crashed on Koatanui Rd at Brunswick in October 2014.

Helicopter flying is a profession that comes with in-built dangers, but Mr Robb was a seasoned pilot who knew the risks and how to minimise them.

However, his chopper hit an "unsafe" electrical wire suspended above the farm he was contracted to spray and a tragedy ensued.

This week a prosecution by the Civil Aviation Authority against the farm owners was dropped and, in truth, they will already have suffered greatly from the events 18 months ago.

So instead, the focus quite rightly shifted to the threat posed to pilots by the electrical wires that hang above many farms in our district.

And the message is clear - remove aerial wires if at all possible and, if that cannot be done, mark them, and make sure the pilot has a hazard map so he knows exactly what he will be dealing with once airborne.

The CAA provides detailed advice about such dangers but whether laws, rather than guidelines, are required is something to consider.

A statement by the farm owners who contracted Mr Robb to work above their property is blunt and to the point: "They encourage farmers never to contemplate that such tragedies could not happen to them. They can. These tragedies must be avoided."