Thursday, March 28, 2013

Fatal mid-air crash report 'singled daughter out'

 The mother of the flight instructor killed in a mid-air collision near Feilding is unhappy an investigation report into the crash singled her daughter out.

The Transport Accident Investigation Commission today released its findings into the July 26, 2010, crash near the Taonui Aerodrome that killed Flight Training Manawatu chief flying instructor Jessica Neeson, 27.

Her student pilot, Patricia Smallman, 64, also died, when their Cessna collided in mid-air with one piloted by student Manoj Kadam.

Kadam's damaged plane lost engine power, but he was able to glide it into the airfield and land safely as the other plane spiralled towards a paddock, where it crashed.

Neeson's mother Lyn said she thought Jessica was singled out because of her experience and because she was the instructor.

The report notes that an instructor's first priority should be the safety of their aircraft and raises the possibility that Neeson didn't see Kadam's plane because she was concentrating too much on Smallman.

It also says all three pilots may not have been concentrating as much as they should on radio calls from the other plane.

''In reality there were two people in Jess' plane,'' Lyn Neeson said.

''I don't believe both of them completely ignored the radio calls. I still have serious concerns about the timeliness of [Kadam's] radio calls.''

She said she thought Kadam was rising out of the aerodrome’s circuit too rapidly.

Jessica would have been ''actively listening'' to any radio calls, Lyn Neeson said.

''That's the sort of pilot she was.''

She said the report made some assumptions about her daughter.

''Jessica used to say ‘assume makes an ass out of you and me’. They've assumed that she wasn't listening and they've assumed that the radio calls were timely.''

Lyn Neeson said Kadam should have been aware Jessica and Smallman were coming back into land as he flew away from the area.

Jessica was committed to a career as an instructor and was taking education courses at Massey University.

Unlike many instructors who simply wanted to get their hours up and then fly big aircraft, Neeson was thinking about operating her own school and had asked her parents if they would chip in and invest in a training operation for sale in Tauranga, she said.

''She cared for her students and she was teaching Pat to re-join [the circuit] and land so she wouldn't have ignored the calls that came out.

''She was a dedicated, responsible pilot and she was well respected in the aviation industry and she had a bright future.''

Jessica would have turned 30 last September and to mark the anniversary her family had a ''wine tour'' of their farm near Taumarunui where bottles of wine were hidden in her favourite places.
 

Lyn Neeson was also unimpressed at the commission's finding that high-intensity and anti-collision lighting and high visibility paints could allow aircraft to be detected earlier.

At the very least, it should be mandatory for training planes to be painted in bright colours, especially in uncontrolled airspace such as the Taonui Aerodrome, she said.

''Obviously I'm disappointed that they can't come up with anything new, rather than just paint the planes.

''It's just status quo - no imagination.'

REPORT FINDS POSSIBLE CAUSES

The long-awaited report into a fatal mid-air crash near Feilding lists a string of possible causes for what happened and finds the occupants of both planes may not have been aware of each other's position, despite radio communication.

At 3.27pm on July 26, 2010, the Cessna Neeson and Smallman were flying collided 1300 feet above sea level with another aircraft of the same make piloted by Kadam near the Taonui Aerodrome.

The nosewheel of Kadam's plane struck and severed part of the other Cessna's wing, making the Cessna unflyable.

Kadam had been climbing away from the uncontrolled airfield, leaving the regular circuit pattern used by aircraft for landings and taking off, the report said.

Neeson and Smallman were joining the same circuit pattern as they approached the runway.

Each plane was giving radio updates of their location but Kadam didn't see the other Cessna until after the two aircraft collided.

Nobody knows if Neeson or Smallman saw him but their plane never changed its flightpath, suggesting they were also unsighted.

The actions of all three pilots were discussed, but the report notes Neeson's responsibility as the senior in her plane.

"The first priority for an instructor, as the pilot-in-command, is to maintain command of their aircraft and ensure its safety before attending to the training needs of the student pilot," the report says.

Smallman was sitting to Neeson's left and the instructor may have been concentrating on her student so would not have seen Kadam approach from the right.

"It is easy to see that an instructor could become consumed by the task of instructing the student pilot, to the detriment of the effective command of the aeroplane."

The report says Smallman would have the hardest job of seeing an approaching plane and would likely have had to stretch above the controls to get a look.

Kadam's view could have been broken by a blind spot, perhaps caused by the framing between the left door and the window.

Nevertheless, the commission says both planes should have been visible as they approached each other.

Both appeared to have made radio calls saying where they were, which would have alerted them to keep an eye out for other aircraft and adopt the "see and avoid" approach.

It is not known if the pilots' radio communication was sufficient or well understood.

"One reason for the two aeroplanes colliding was that the pilots of both aircraft appear to have either not heard, or heard and not comprehended the importance of the radio calls of the other aircraft," the report says.

"The pilots of both aeroplanes should have been listening for those calls and assessing how the intended track of the other aircraft might affect their own plans."

The report says radio communication must be "clear, concise and accurate".

There was no reason to suspect equipment failure was to blame.

Meanwhile, pilots using the naked eye to detect other aircraft should take into account blind spots and manouevre accordingly, the commission recommends.

Pilots also need to be aware of the limitations of the naked eye.

The Taonui Aerodrome was described as busy and in close proximity to both Palmerston North Airport and the Ohakea Air Force Base - a situation students could find complex.

On the day of the crash, however, there wasn't much air traffic around.

The weather was calm and the angle of the sun meant it wouldn't have impeded the pilots' vision.

At some point Neeson or Smallman made a mayday call.

The report says if that was triggered by engine failure, the two women could have been concentrating on that rather than scanning their vista for incoming planes.

Similarly, Kadam's attention may have been on steadying his plane as he left the aerodrome's circuit route.

Generally, planes would approach such a route 500 feet above its upper flight path, but in this case that would put aircraft into controlled airspace.

Neeson and Smallman took a lower approach and this too may have contributed to them being on a collision course with Kadam.

The commission also notes that civil aviation rules state an aircraft must give way to a plane on its right are also cited by the commission.

That means Neeson or Smallman should have given way, although that would be trumped by any obligation on either plane to avoid a collision regardless.

Story and Photos:  http://www.stuff.co.nz

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