Increase in pilots 'ups risk'

The flight training industry has become a victim of its own success, with the growing number of learners also increasing the risk of accidents, according to a Marlborough instructor.

Marlborough Aero Club chief flying instructor Kevin Wilkey said flight training around the country was busier than in the past, which "ups the ante" because there were more planes flying in uncontrolled airspace.

Mr Wilkey, an instructor with the club since 1994, could not recall any near-misses at the Omaka airfield. However, a surge in midair collisions and near-misses throughout the rest of the country in the past decade – nearly half of them involving trainee pilots – has become the focus of an inquiry by the Transport Accident Investigation Commission (TAIC) into possible widespread problems with flight training.

TAIC is calling for public submissions on flight training as it examines civil flying training safety, and the fatal midair collision near Feilding that killed Palmerston North flight instructor Jessica Neeson, 27, and Waikanae trainee pilot Patricia Smallman, 64, in July.

Mr Wilkey said foreign students had become a big part of the flight training environment because New Zealand was seen as a robust place to learn to fly.

The Marlborogh club had fewer students than other training providers around the country because student funding was not available, he said.

People learning to fly through the club paid for lessons as they went.

Civil Aviation Authority figures show that the reported number of near-misses has increased significantly in the past five years, but the number involving trainee pilots has been even more pronounced.

Between 1990 and 1999, there were 17 reported near-misses, with just three involving training aircraft. Since 2000, the number of reports of near-misses has skyrocketed to 131, 60 of them involving training flights.

Recorded pilot training hours have doubled in the past 15 years, to nearly 300,000 hours a year.

Civil Aviation chief investigator of accidents Tim Burfoot said the commission had "become concerned that systemic or widespread matters may be affecting civil flying training safety".

"It has decided to invite public submissions alongside current investigations to help determine whether its concern is substantiated or not."

Associate Transport Minister Nathan Guy welcomed the commission's review and said the Government would consider any recommendations.

"Aviation is a highly regulated industry and New Zealand has a good safety record in this area. However, given the rapid growth in flight training in recent years, the time is right for a broad look at how we safely train pilots," he said.

Submissions close on February 21, and the commission hopes to complete its inquiry by the end of September.

-with Fairfax

SIMON WONG - The Marlborough Express

Last updated 12:00 22/12/2010