Koah locals in a tailspin Anger as spitfire pilot ups ante
RURAL residents are in a tailspin about a Cairns businessman’s plans to increase the amount of flights from his private property at Koah.
English Engineering owner Pat English has applied through Mareeba Shire Council to change the amount of daily flights he is allowed at his airstrip from one to three.
Mr English gained approval from the council in late-March for one flight a day, 365 days a year, so he could avoid the long drive to work along the Kuranda Range and fly his World War II replica Spitfire.
The council is due to vote on the new proposal next Wednesday.
Mr English said the request to change the conditions on his existing approval for flights was due to safety reasons, such as if he needed to return to the airstrip in case of an emergency.
“Overall the number of flights will remain the same,” he said. “The opportunity to fly more than one flight a day has been part of the original approval since 2010.
“In fact the original approval allows for any number of takeoff and landings in any one day.”
Koah resident Nadine O’Brien claimed council’s recent approval of more flights from Mr English’s airstrip was based on “inaccurate information.”
“Council was first informed in 2012 that the take-off flight paths submitted in the original approval were not being flown,” she said. “No action was taken.
“In frustration, we recently sought the advice of an independent aviation expert and he found that the flight plans submitted are not permitted under civil aviation regulations.
“The pilot has since admitted he used this take-off route only on a few occasions and found it difficult to execute safely.”
She and other locals were angry the take-off flight plan was still in reports shown to councillors when they voted on the application in March.
Mr English dismissed Ms O’Brien’s concerns, saying councillors attended his property and observed the take-off from both ends of his airstrip.
“The take-off and landings observed by Council were normal but slightly lower and closer in, due to bad weather in the vicinity – this would make any noise worse than normal and still an approval was given,” he said.
“Both flight paths are shown in the application that Council voted on.”