X Spots The Mark
The South Waikato District Council has admitted fault following years of Civil Aviation Authority rule breaches.
It comes after reports of aircraft repeatedly landing amongst drag racing and driver training days at the Tokoroa Airfield due to the incorrect placement of white crosses which alert pilots to runway closures.
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Although pilots are responsible for checking if airfields are open via Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) alerts, it’s the council’s responsibility as the airfield operator to ensure event organisers place large white crosses on the runway to confirm the closure.
CAA Aerodrome Standards and Requirements state “on a closed runway, or strip, a marking or markers should be placed at one third and two thirds the length of the closed runway”. The council, however, has been allowing them to be placed on grassed areas next to the runway which is thought to be confusing pilots as to where they can and can’t land.
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Long time drone enthusiast Bruce Simpson said after witnessing several near misses over the years he fears it’s only a matter of time before someone is killed or seriously injured.
“[In late 2019 after a plane landed] I told the council that the crosses are not in the right place and CAA weighed in and said they have to be placed in accordance with regulations which they were not,” he said.
“I just kept getting told ‘don’t worry, we are on top of it, we have learned from this and we are making changes’ but exactly a year later the same thing happened. It’s the fifth incident in as many years.
“The council has to make sure the place is safe yet nothing ever happens. There is potential for criminal changes if this has been reported and nothing has been done and next time someone gets hurt.”
X Spots The Mark Meaning
Simpson said close calls were happening at least once a year.
“It’s too often,” he said.
“In one case a plane landed during a drag race and there was a caravan on the runway which had to move out of the way.”
He said change was needed to keep all users safe.
“The problem is when the runway is being used for drag racing and driving training those crosses are in the way so what the council has been allowing is for them to be stuck at the end on the grass even though it doesn’t comply with regulations,” he said.
“I think pilots coming in are sometimes confused by it. They think they should only be using the tarmac and that the grass is closed.
“Because the crosses have to be on the tarmac they could be painted on with poster paint and water-blasted off at the end of the day. That way they will be on the tarmac as the rules require but they won’t interfere with anyone.”
South Waikato District Council communications manager Kerry Fabrie confirmed the council had been providing wrong advice to event organisers.
“The council acknowledges that the crosses were incorrectly placed and this may have contributed to pilot error. Regardless though of where the crosses were placed, there was a NOTAM in place that should have been checked by the pilot and the crosses were visible from the air,” she said.
Fabrie said the council has now updated its procedures.
“We have developed a Standard Operating Procedure which clarifies the process to be followed to ensure that crosses are correctly placed,“ she said.
CAA aeronautical services manager Sean Rogers said whist pilots are ultimately responsible for determining whether a location can be used for landing or taking off, the council could still face penalties.
“There may be penalties under the Health and Safety at Work Act 2016 for failure to meet acceptable means of compliance but this would have to be determined based on the circumstances,” he said.
“There may also be consequences for a pilot who has landed on a restricted runway, which would be determined through an investigation.”
This mark shows the location, as in On the postcard, X marks the spot where we picked blueberries. Although the use of a cross or X is probably much older, this term was first recorded in 1813.
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