Court-martial finds pilot guilty

Press, 18 November 1981, Page 7

Court-martial finds pilot guilty

PA Auckland A court-martial yesterday found an R.N.Z.A.F. pilot guilty of negligence in allowing a helicopter to crash and be damaged. Flight Lieutenant Michael Keith Adair, aged 26, formerly of New Plymouth, was sentenced to 18 months loss of seniority by the Court -president. Group Captain Colin Rudd. Adair admitted the charge. The court-martial at Whenuapai Air Base heard that the No. 3 squadron pilot’s helicopter ran out of fuel and crashed near the Fijian village of Lutu on June 25 while taking .part in Exercise Tropic 81. •

The fuel gauge, replaced five days before the crash, was not calibrated and was known to be over-reading by about 10 gallons. The prosecuting officer, Flight-lieutenant Brian Carruthers. said the type of operation — involving numerous short trips ferrying building materials about five kilometres from Lutu Korova — was unusual and not specifically covered by standing orders which had been changed since the crash.

However, he said, pilots were not permitted to fly the Sioux helicopters with less than eight gallons of fuel. Before the last„ refuelling nb.-one had dipped the tank

to see how much fuel was left, despite it having a misleading gauge. When airborne, Adair had twice radioed to ask how much fuel was put in. There was some ambiguity, but he was told they were topped up.

Adair then carried a further 17 loads to finish the task before attending a short farewell ceremony at Korova and heading back to Lutu and the crash. Adair told the court-mar-tial that he would not have been flying that day but the expected pilot reported sick. He had been calculating his amount of fuel as agreed, by timing his flying and

loading time and said he had added a minute every eight or nine trips as “fat.” Returning to Lutu he was preparing to land and did not immediately realise the engine had stopped because of vibration noise. He crashlanded, bouncing once, and jumped out to stop villagers approaching rotor-arms which were still turning. Mr Carruthers said one fuel tank was found empty and the other held about 1.2 gallons when checked. The fuel gauge check on Adair’s prompting still showed about eight gallons. The defending officer, Flight-lieutenant Scotty Glendenning, said in mitiga-

tipn that Adair had an unblemished record but in this case was guilty of negligence when working in demanding conditions in unusual circumstances and climate.

Adair had been subject to a “task achievement syndrome,” wanting to get the job. done, he said. He pointed out the pilots were working in hot, unfamiliar conditions under the stress caused by making the numerous short trips of loading and unloading-

The difficult task of keeping a running total of flying and ground engine-running time would have been better suited to a landing pad controller, he said.