NZFF

Breaking News!!

I was out at Wanaka airport to photo the AirNZ flight, and was watching the skydivers whilst I was waiting. Saw a skydiver come down, and then noticed what appeared to be a streamer also coming down. I thought that they must have dropped something. Then I noticed that they were falling much more than the others, then noticed what looks like a canopy floating down, this later came down in the fields behind Wanaka airport. Saw the Skydive Wanaka van quickly going up the hill, presumably to retrieve the two parts.



What was amazing that within 15 minutes, they were taking off again with more skydivers. If that had been me, then I would have checked all the chutes throughly before going again.

I am trying to get more details now.

Another safety concern that I have about Skydive Wanaka is their habit of landing downwind, when all other aircraft are using the into wind direction. Not only that, but they do a very small circuit so tend to cut in with a curving final approach. Given that there are a lot of helicopters and aircraft flying (including perhaps some non-radio) then it looks like an accident waiting to happen.

Watch this space, as they say!!

Smooth landings.

Hmm does seem very doggy!

The radio comms are up to scratch. They drop from NZQN controlled airspace and are cleared drop visually relative to the incoming Eagle and other IFR traffic. While not required, they also broadcast on 119.1Mhz from controlled airspace. They also have a private channel 120.1mhz to the ground which advises them of drop conditions and traffic. I'm not sure that there should be any non radio traffic in the circuit? Even the parpenters radio around the wanaka basin. It's all pretty clearly laid out in the ops data for the airfield. It's a north sided circuit at wanaka and the parachutes land on the south side. As with all aircraft it's see and be seen and I have never seen anything near a conflict with the skydivers at wanaka.

I've been watching operations at wanaka for over 6 years and listen to the radio on a scanner and they are definitely not a problem - visiting pilots doing overhead joins (which are prohibited!) cause more problems than anyone else.

The thing dropping off is another story.....

Jamie

chickenman wrote:

QUOTE (chickenman @ Jan 21 2008, 04:25 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

The radio comms are up to scratch. They drop from NZQN controlled airspace and are cleared drop visually relative to the incoming Eagle and other IFR traffic. While not required, they also broadcast on 119.1Mhz from controlled airspace. They also have a private channel 120.1mhz to the ground which advises them of drop conditions and traffic. I'm not sure that there should be any non radio traffic in the circuit? Even the parpenters radio around the wanaka basin. It's all pretty clearly laid out in the ops data for the airfield. It's a north sided circuit at wanaka and the parachutes land on the south side. As with all aircraft it's see and be seen and I have never seen anything near a conflict with the skydivers at wanaka.

I've been watching operations at wanaka for over 6 years and listen to the radio on a scanner and they are definitely not a problem - visiting pilots doing overhead joins (which are prohibited!) cause more problems than anyone else.

The thing dropping off is another story.....

Jamie

I would disagree about safety. It cannot be a good idea where there is no ATC to have aircraft landing in different directions on the SAME runway. Looks like an accident in the making to me, I just hope that I am not on short finals or the landing roll when they land the other way.

Heard on the news about another light aircraft crash today between Hokitika and Christchurch. 2 killed I believe.

Why cannot Wanaka Skydive land in the same direction as everybody else?

Smooth Landings (into wind)!!

happytraveller wrote:

QUOTE (happytraveller @ Jan 21 2008, 07:21 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I would disagree about safety. It cannot be a good idea where there is no ATC to have aircraft landing in different directions on the SAME runway. Looks like an accident in the making to me, I just hope that I am not on short finals or the landing roll when they land the other way.

I'd say in light wind conditions it is quite common on any number of GA airfields, I've seen it done at NZWF, NZQN when ATC is off watch, NZLX, NZRC, NZTU, NZOU are the ones that I have seen it done that I can recall. The radio is full of chatter and pos reps around NZWF and everyone knows where everyone else is - they are professionals. As I said the worst pilots that I have seen into NZWF are vistors who announce that they are overhead or on short final to land and it is their first radio contact.

If there are issues at NZWF I am sure that CAA would be down on them like a tonne of bricks and pilots have no compumction about dobbing in reckless or unsafe commercial operators

The pilot would decide which runway to land on. We can hardly speculate about the circumstances or chide the pilot for what s/he's done because we really don't know all the factors around the situation there; what the weather actually was, the traffic levels etc.

Alex

Wanaka has recently implemented a CFZ (Common Frequency Zone) a.k.a Special Procedures Area basically. Even when its busy with helicopter training, parachuting and fixed wing training its reasonably easy to get in and out of Wanaka. If you have a quick yarn to Queenstown Information (128.0) they can let you know if there is a Beech 1900 on its way in or out which is always helpful. When you are within the CFZ, the Skydiving planes (ZKROK usually) usually points out what the wind is doing etc. The only rule is DON't fly a standard overhead rejoin or make circuits on the non-traffic side as your bound to end up hitting something.

I've done heaps of cross country time now and never had any complications getting in and out of Wanaka. In fact its somewhere I look forward to heading too. Being only an hours flying time from Invercargill it sure beats the 4 hour drive!

happytraveller wrote:

QUOTE (happytraveller @ Jan 21 2008, 01:19 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Breaking News!!

I was out at Wanaka airport to photo the AirNZ flight, and was watching the skydivers whilst I was waiting. Saw a skydiver come down, and then noticed what appeared to be a streamer also coming down. I thought that they must have dropped something. Then I noticed that they were falling much more than the others, then noticed what looks like a canopy floating down, this later came down in the fields behind Wanaka airport. Saw the Skydive Wanaka van quickly going up the hill, presumably to retrieve the two parts.



What was amazing that within 15 minutes, they were taking off again with more skydivers. If that had been me, then I would have checked all the chutes throughly before going again.

I am trying to get more details now.

Another safety concern that I have about Skydive Wanaka is their habit of landing downwind, when all other aircraft are using the into wind direction. Not only that, but they do a very small circuit so tend to cut in with a curving final approach. Given that there are a lot of helicopters and aircraft flying (including perhaps some non-radio) then it looks like an accident waiting to happen.

Watch this space, as they say!!

Smooth landings.

Happy Traveller,

It appears that you did not get many more details? Skydiving Wanaka have said that you never contacted them for any details? However it appears that someone did try to sell some photos to the Press and ODT to make a story out of something. Both the ODT and Press were in contact with Skydiving Wanaka yesterday. Conicidence?

FYI - It was a cameramans main chute that malfunctioned. He has over 10 years experience and it was his first malfunction. As is normal, he jettisoned his main and deployed the reserve.

Happy Traveller - Jools & Dave (Directors) have invited you to their operation to discuss what you saw, which was a normal & expected part of skydiving, and to discuss flight operations at Wanaka. Send me a PM and I can put you in touch with them.

These guys have a 100% safety record and have been operating for over 12 years in Wanaka and I think that you might have leapt to the wrong conclusion.

Jamie

I am afraid that Happy Traveler is very misinformed. What happened yesterday was a malfunction parachute on an experienced cameraman’s jump. It was his first malfunction in 10 years. Malfunction parachutes are part of skydiving as much as a flat tyre is a part of driving. Skydivers notice the problem, disconnect and open their reserve. Then Simon landed on the airfield as normal. His main chute did land in a paddock and was retrieved – we have no control over where the parachute lands but we do have radio contact with other airport users. What appears to be extremely sad about this incident today was that whoever took photos tried to sell them to a newspaper – 2 newspapers called me and asked for the storey. This person did not check with us for details on the incident or to see if there was anyone hurt or what the procedure was – they took it off their own back to e-mail the media to try and make up a story and obtain money. Sad, almost sick I would say. This type of alarmist and misinformed behaviour can affect a business and the livlihood of many people who have spent most of their life working 7 days a week.


So as you know we are deeply proud and protective of our 100% safety record here at Skydive Lake Wanaka, we have as you say NEVER had a conflict in 12 years with other airport users and our Pilots have 10,000 flying hours between them. Our investment of over $1.5 million on our aircraft alone has come about form 12 years or hard work and dedication to our business and the sport of skydiving and it is despicable that someone who does not possess ANY facts of the incident today would post such a bad piece of uninformed writing and pictures.


Yes we did take off 15 minutes later – malfunctions are a part of skydiving and our cameramen dealt with the situation in a totally professional manner. This did NOT involve a tandem parachute, there was nothing wrong with Simons equipment, high performance canopies sometimes malfunction for no reason which is why we carry a complete back up device. What this plane spotter saw was just the main parachute floating down. It is such a shame that he did not show his face and call in at the drop zone to check his facts, ensure that no one was actually hurt before writing a lot of mis informed jargon.

Today is a sad day reading this blog, and it was a complete waste of a lot of peoples time to have to talk with both the ODT and the Press who both declined to pay the photographer any money for a storey about nothing.

We invite Happy Traveler to our drop zone to and come and see how we run our operation and talk through some of the real facts about skydiving so next time they do not jump to their own conclusions about malfunctions or down wind landings.