CAA Safety Seminar

Alexandra Airport was full of activity on Saturday. A Corporate Jet had landed in the morning and was parked on the apron. The Air cadets were holding a camp on the field with their Airforce tents pitched near the hangar. And there were about twenty young cadets marching in formation in front of the hangar.

ERW has been busy over the last month, with around thirty hours in the air. Nick, Greg and myself have been flying during April, with Gary towing gliders as well. Saturday was perfect for flying. Greg and I both had local flights in the morning, while Nick had a flight into the mountains with his passengers in the afternoon.

CAA Safety Seminar
They say that the most dangerous part of any flight is the drive to the airport. While that may be true, a reminder about what can go wrong, is always helpful.

On Thursday evening, I attended the CAA Seminar on recent air accidents. There were about 50 pilots at the Seminar held at Wanaka, including five members from our club. We looked at five different cases, including single and multi-engine planes, helicopters and gliders.

Each case was well presented with actual video footage, re-enactments of events or computer animation. The one that interested me the most was the recent fatal crash at Arrowtown. Not only was it in our area, but it was easily preventable. Like most of the other Case studies, it was not just one error of judgement that caused the accident, but a series of events that eventually lead to the fatalities.

There were lessons to be learnt from all five cases, which often applied regardless of the type of aircraft you are flying, or how experienced you think you are. Learn to recognise the problems and manage the situation. Prepare well, know your machine, keep calm and continue to fly the aircraft.

It was good to be introduced to some of the CAA staff, including Steve Moore, (the boss) at CAA. Well done and it was nice to see the Seminar so well supported.

Happy Flying

Stephen Morton