Service Authority Given By Minister

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXVI, Issue 22951, 20 May 1949, Page 6

Service Authority Given By Minister

(P.A.) WELLINGTON, May 19. Called as witness before the board of inquiry into the loss of the Lodestar Kereru near I’araparaumu oil March 18 the Director of Civil Aviation Mr. E. A. Gibson, said today that no actual air service certificate under Regulation 7A of the air navigation regulations had been issued for the Whenuapai-Paraparaumu-Dunedin service.

The Minister, he said, had authorised the continuance of the service pending the issue of a certificate. Before last Christmas the service had operated under a provisional certificate and for four months from the beginning of this year the service had been granted exemption under regulation 8 of the air navigation regulations. <•. The board of inquiry consists of His Honour, Judge Stilwell, Group-Captain W. C. Sheen and Mr. R. A. Kirkup. Questioned by Mr. W. H. Cunningham. counsel for the Air Department, the witness said that application had been made bv the National Airways Corporation for at! air service certificate. Discussions were still going on between the corporation and the civil aviation branch on • compliance with the requirements of the certificate. It was likely that a certificate would be issued shortly to the National Aftways Corporation. A good deal of detailed work was required to meet the requirements fully. Supervision of Service Asked whether when an air service certificate was issued the supervision exercised over-the service would be relaxed, the witness said that in certain respects it would be delegated to the holder of the license; To Mr. R. E. Tripe, who is appearing for the relatives of one of the passengers killed in the Kcreru, the witness said that so far as he was aware air service certificates had not been issued for other passenger services.-The maintenance requirements of the department were generally in line with those in operation in Britain and the United States for some years. The witness agreed that new air navigation regulations had been drafted about 12 months ago. Cross-examined by Mr. W. E. Leicester, for the relatives of Mr. A. G. Hyland a passenger, the witness said that in the event of a conflict between questions of safety and questions of operation costs, the decision rested with the Director of Civil Aviation, who was answerable to the -Minister. Premier’s Instruction “The Prime Minister himself has ruled that, where matters of safety are concerned, the opinion of the Director of Civil Aviation is final,” the witness continued. He knew of no instance where operations costs bad been considered to the detriment of safety. Evidence'of the flying experience of the two pilotg of the Kereru, Commander R. W. Bartley and First Officer R. A Boys, was given by Captain H. C. Walker, chief pilot of the National Airways Corporation. He said there was no reason in the weather conditions at the time of the disaster for the pilot not to know where he was when gojng off instru-ment-flying to visual-flight rules. He did not think, knowing Commander Bartley's experience, that he would have specified that he was five miles west of the coast at a certain time if he did not know his location. To Mr. C A. L. Treadwell, for the Internal Affairs Department and the relatives of two of the passengers, Captain Walker said that maintaining the same cruising speed the pilot would have reduced height within the rules in 15 miles—four miles more than a direct line from his last reporting point. A direct approach could have been made within the rules by “going very slowly" with the flaps down. To Mr. Leicester, the witness said there was no justification for a pilot on visual-flight rules entering cloud. Questioned by counsel tor the relatives of Commander Bartley, Mr. R. Fardie Boys, the witness said that Commander Bartley had considerable flying experience, but there were a number of other pilots in the service with longer experience. Commander, Bartley had a good reputation in the service.

The plane’s approach level at the Otaki River mouth was higher than usual, but not abnormally high, Captain Walker agreed that a descent of 2000 ft. in four to six miles from the noint where it crashed could be called "a dive.” He could give no explanation as to why a pilot would enter such a dive.