NZ Events Today

[ardypilot]

No doubt these will be reported on the MRC blog soon..

Lucky pilot escapes uninjured after rocky landing

A 19-year-old pilot was lucky to escape uninjured this afternoon after an unexpected wind change caused his plane to drop suddenly and skid for 30 metres at Kaikoura landing strip.

Senior constable Andy Watson said the pilot, with over 130 hours flying time, had flown to Kaikoura from Christchurch and was landing when the wind change caused the plane to drop suddenly.

"He managed to regain control, but landed hard before shooting off into nearby marsh and scrub for about 30 metres before coming to a stand still."

The plane was a Tomahawk Piper owned by the Canterbury Aero Club.

"It's just one of those things that comes with flying," Mr Watson said.

"There was nothing the pilot could have done differently in the circumstances. He did very well and is just lucky not to be injured."

The teenage pilot, who holds a private pilot's licence, arrived in Kaikoura with another pilot in a separate plane and will return to Christchurch with him.

And

Confusion leads to skydivers landing in the Coromandel Ranges

Two skydivers have been rescued by helicopter after jumping out of their plane in the wrong place and landing in dense bush in the Coromandel Ranges, instead of the Thames airstrip.

It is far from the ideal landing spot in every sense - dense bush and uneven terrain as well a good 3km from where they were supposed to come down.

"Once we came through the cloud we just realised we were in the wrong place," sky diver Robin Jacob said. "I'm not sure why so we did the best we could and landed in the bush and these guys helped us out."

First time skydiver Robin Jacob, and a second jumper, were winched to safety after their skydiving instructor managed to walk out to raise the alarm.

The two men walked away virtually unscathed, but when the alarm was first raised police had no idea how bad things might be.

"When one came out you don't know whether the other two are lying seriously injured or not," Senior Sergeant Jim Corbett said. "So hence it was a mad rush to try and locate them."

Another sky diver who did not want to appear on camera told 3 News that they normally rely on visually identifying their target but that was not possible today because of cloud cover. Instead he said they called air traffic control who told them they were above Thames air strip.

But air traffic control tells it differently. They say it is not their job to tell skydivers where they are, and ultimately the responsibility is the pilot's.

Either way it has not deterred Jacob from skydiving. He is already planning his next jump.

[victor_alpha_charlie]

Oo, an exciting day indeed. Good that nobody was hurt.

[A185F]

Hrmmm interesting.

QUOTE

They say it is not their job to tell skydivers where they are, and ultimately the responsibility is the pilot's.[/quote]

Fair enough ultimate responsibility being pilots. However. It is ilegal to drop through cloud unless dropping in controlled airspace where by ATC can confirm the position for the drop. This is for safety so these things don't happen (and the condition to where by this is legal), yet it did happen (and it could have been MUCH worse) and ATC are backing away... Sorta defeats the point a little me thinks.... Anyway i'm not 100% sure on the ins an outs, perhaps someone like towerguy could explain a little more...

[Q300]

Hmm yes very busy day.

[FlyingKiwi]

The only time I've flown into Kaikoura airfield we had terrible windshear on short final - dropped very abruptly but fortunately had enough height to save it, but I can easily imagine it going badly wrong. Seems to be a bit of a common problem there.

[towerguy]

anyone dumb enough to jump out of a perfectly serviceable aeroplane deserves pretty much whatever they get!

dunno the rules about it really - not my area so can't give a definitive answer, sorry.

[GlennAV8R]

QUOTE (towerguy @ Mar 7 2008, 02:43 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

anyone dumb enough to jump out of a perfectly serviceable aeroplane deserves pretty much whatever they get!

There is no such thing as a perfectly serviceable aeroplane!

[chopper_nut]

Your right there, should see some of the ones Ive flown!