Recommendation Date
Recipient Name
ATD MoT
Text
He regulate the traffic density at Milford Sound by restricting the maximum number of aeroplane departures within a period of time. A suggested figure is six departures in any fifteen minute period. This would give flexibility while allowing aircraft to fly to MacKinnon Pass and return to overhead Milford Sound without encountering dense traffic.
Reply Text
Had no action been taken since the accident on 30 December 1989 there would be merit in considering this recommendation. However, this is not the case. On Thursday, 4 January 1990 a meeting was held in the Lakeland Hotel, Queenstown, between the aircraft operators and the Air Transport Division. The question was put to the operators: "Do you, the operators have a problem in the Queenstown-Milford Sound area?" The operators identified the lack of parking and a taxiway on the ground at Milford for runway 29 as the main reasons for the congestion that developed in the air. Radio procedures and reported points were discussed in detail. The means by which pilots qualified for a Milford rating was debated at length. Following all of this it was agreed that an Association be formed. The Chief Pilot, or his nominee, from each company would form the membership of the Association. Don Spary would be the official spokesman and the ATD would be the facilitator.
Since that first meeting there has been additional meetings. A position reporting and collision avoidance system has been put in place (see Class II NOTAM in the AIP New Zealand Flight Guide (see page 5-25, para 14.7 - Milford Sound).
The parking area at Milford Sound has been enlarged and sealed and a taxiway to runway 29 has been constructed. This has lead to an orderly flow of traffic on departure from Milford Sound and has eliminated the bunching of aircraft at the take-off point.
The operators have put in place arrival and departure procedures that provide vertical and horizontal separation between aircraft arriving at Milford and aircraft departing. In addition there is also a longitudinal separation imposed on the departing traffic.
Following the introduction of these procedures a senior inspector has carried out surveillance checks and the operators have been subject to audit by the ATD.
The Association of operators and the ATD have drafted and agreed on the criterion for a Milford Sound aerodrome approval. This will be issued in a CAIC-GEN and will also be incorporated in the Flight Guide together with the reporting points.
For the above reasons the Acting General Manager respectfully rejects the recommendation of 033/91.
Since that first meeting there has been additional meetings. A position reporting and collision avoidance system has been put in place (see Class II NOTAM in the AIP New Zealand Flight Guide (see page 5-25, para 14.7 - Milford Sound).
The parking area at Milford Sound has been enlarged and sealed and a taxiway to runway 29 has been constructed. This has lead to an orderly flow of traffic on departure from Milford Sound and has eliminated the bunching of aircraft at the take-off point.
The operators have put in place arrival and departure procedures that provide vertical and horizontal separation between aircraft arriving at Milford and aircraft departing. In addition there is also a longitudinal separation imposed on the departing traffic.
Following the introduction of these procedures a senior inspector has carried out surveillance checks and the operators have been subject to audit by the ATD.
The Association of operators and the ATD have drafted and agreed on the criterion for a Milford Sound aerodrome approval. This will be issued in a CAIC-GEN and will also be incorporated in the Flight Guide together with the reporting points.
For the above reasons the Acting General Manager respectfully rejects the recommendation of 033/91.
Related Investigation(s)