Pilots tempted to overload —association

Press, 22 June 1985, Page 12

Pilots tempted to overload —association

PA Hamilton More competition is tempting some agricultural pilots to overload their planes. A new system had made it easier for pilots to get a licence and they were competing for'a declining total tonnage available, said the president of the Waikato Agricultural Pilots’ Association, Mr Jim Baker. Pilots formerly were allowed to buy only existing licences, he said. Now pilots were tempted to cut prices to ensure their livelihood. The Director of Civil Aviation, Mr Stuart Mclntyre, speaking from Wellington said engineers were working on a suitable weight-measuring device to stop overloading. A meeting with members of the Agricultural Pilots’ Association and other aircraft companies had decided overloading had to be prevented, said Mr Mclntyre. This course had been

planned, he said, before the release of a report by the Chief Inspector of Air Accidents, Mr Ron Chippindale, on the death last year of a pilot John Munro at Matamata. Overloading was cited as a factor in the fatality by Mr Chippindale, who had called for a review of the problem. Mr Baker, welcoming the moves, said some pilots used big hoppers which could be fully loaded with light loads such as grass seed, yet still be within safety regulations. “But they are then tempted to fill .up with heavy loads such as superphosphate ...,” he said.