Wgtn Airport closed

Press, 4 January 1980, Page 4

Wgtn Airport closed

PA Wellington Wellington Airport was closed all day yesterday after one flight to BlenhtL- at 6.35 a.m. Ninety-eight flights affecting 3500 passengers had to be cancelled. Hundreds of passengers were affected in Christchurch. Winds' of up to 72 knots overturned a horse float being towed north on State Highway I between Wellington and Foxton. Police and traffic officers used hacksaws to free the trapped and frightened horse, which was ■

taken to a vet and treated for minor injuries. Gale-force winds caused another accident at a city intersection. A car whose driver had stopped to see if the road was clear was blown across the intersection and collided with another car. Nobody was hurt. The Ministry of Transport took all of its motor-cycles off the road at 8.30 a.m. and said it hoped this would serve as a danger warning to other motor-cyclists. Many coast roads were designated unsafe for motorcyclists and small cars and

caravans were advised not to go . over the Rimutakas or Paekakariki Hill. Train passengers could not get off at Ngauranga station just north of Wellington because of salt spray blown across the tracks. “It would make the wheels skid when the train started again,” said a Railways spokesman. Passengers were ferried back to the station by bus. Many camping grounds in the Wellington area emptied as tents were blown down and sodden campers decided to go home.