AO-1997-009

At 1132 hours on Thursday 15 May 1997 ten free-falling parachutists exited from Hercules NZ7002 at 10 000 feet above Whenuapai Aerodrome. The parachutists passed some miles in front and to the left of a Bandeirante aircraft transiting the area at 7000 feet. No collision occurred between the parachutists and the Bandeirante. A clearance to release the parachutists had been issued to the Hercules crew but the clearance was inappropriate due to a misunderstanding between the Air Traffic Controllers. Safety issues identified included imprecise and unclear communication and inadequate procedural instructions to Controllers to ensure misunderstanding did not occur when issuing clearances. The Airways Corporation initiated appropriate corrective actions following the incident.