The New Zealand pilots’ union is flagging safety fears in opposing Queenstown Airport’s call to fast-track night flights.
High-ranking New Zealand Air Line Pilots’ Association technical director Stu Julian warns it will take at least two years to ensure all standards and recommended practices are met for after-dark flights. The call comes as Queenstown Airport and budget airline Jetstar advance their case to the Civil Aviation Authority to bring evening flights to the aerodrome by next winter.
Helicopters equipped with night-vision cameras have recently been flying airliner take-off and landing routes to provide simulated footage from the cockpit of a plane.
Julian tells Mountain Scene that Queenstown is lacking in necessary mountain obstacle lighting and he’s critical of the airport’s new runway end safety areas.
“Queenstown Airport shouldn’t be in a rush – this is too important,” Julian urges. “We’ve got to comply with international standards and recommended practices.”
Historically, “NZ has not implemented a number of those [international] standards and practices,” he warns.
Before night flying can begin, all obstacles on airport approach – including mountains – must be lit up in accordance with international requirements, Julian says.
Even then, mountain-top lights may be obscured on cloudy nights so landing or taking off would then breach “normal aviation standards”, he adds.
NZALPA also opposes the immediate night-time use of blind-flying technology, introduced in 2004 for day-time flights to Queenstown.
Called RNP, for ‘required navigation performance’ – and labelled “fundamental” for night flights by Queenstown Airport boss Steve Sanderson – this GPS-based technology directs aircraft on pre-programmed tracks through the Wakatipu’s mountainous terrain in low or no visibility.
But Julian warns: “The RNP programme has got way out ahead of [its] regulatory rules.
“The regulatory aspects of RNP are in catch-up mode [and] we need to consolidate what we’ve got before we start moving into night operations.”
‘Not for public consumption’
The New Zealand Air Line Pilots’ Association won’t say whether Queenstown Airport still has a dicey safety rating.
In February 2009, then-president Mark Rammell confirmed NZALPA’s international body had officially branded ZQN as “Black Star, Critically Deficient”.
Pilots “need to be extremely careful” at Queenstown, Rammell said.
Asked whether the black-star rating remains in place, NZALPA technical director Stu Julian says: “I’d prefer not to either confirm or deny on the black-star status because it’s not for public consumption.”
The catch-up will take CAA between two and seven years, Julian believes.
Queenstown Airport’s new runway end extensions aren’t all they’re cracked up to be either, he adds.
“NZALPA’s policy is for a 240-metre ‘runway-end safety area’ at each end – so while 90m [extensions are] great, the risk of an overrun causing serious consequences is still very high and remains unmitigated.”
The pilots union’s concerns about night flights echo comments made to Mountain Scene nearly three years ago by then-NZALPA president Mark Rammell.
“Commercial pressure” for jet flights into Queenstown could compromise safety, Rammell warned, saying NZALPA would fight night flights.
Winter operations currently have a safety curfew of 30 minutes before dusk – effectively 5pm – which outgoing QAC boss Sanderson wants extended till 6-7pm, when it’s dark.
Air NZ has so far stood back from the idea, previously saying the safety case for night flights hasn’t yet been sufficiently made.
However, Jetstar promises more local jobs and will establish a base in the resort if it gets the green light for evening flights.
Sanderson shrugs off Julian’s concerns.
RNP allows pilots to navigate through cloud down to 75m above the runway and CAA is mainly focused on the risk from when a pilot takes control after RNP, he says.
He remains confident that evening flights will get the go-ahead by CAA and its Australian counterpart, the Civil Aviation Safety Authority.
“We have had some really encouraging conversations with CAA in recent weeks.”
Sanderson says the helicopter night flight simulation – albeit undertaken in clear conditions – will help Jetstar’s safety case.
“We are very confident that all the risks that are being pointed out to us have got mitigation.”
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