Airport blips from kids to cookies
Lost gun and livestock on airport grounds among 2017 aviation mishaps, writes Tom Hunt.
Two young children flew unaccompanied from Palmerston North to Christchurch before Air New Zealand staff realised they were travelling alone.
That incident was just one in a series of check-in and loading mishaps revealed in Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) files.
The children, aged five and 11, flew from Palmerston North to Christchurch on April 21 before anyone clicked they did not have the proper documents to travel as unaccompanied minors. The cabin crew then took over as caregivers till their final Dunedin destination.
In February, an unaccompanied minor was also left unattended on a busy apron in Wellington, the CAA revealed.
Other errors included a gun being left in a Nelson baggage cart, a man left standing behind a wing as the engines were about to start, and a girl reduced to tears when she realised she was boarding a plane headed for Napier and not Nelson.
The CAA information included a variety of incidents where procedures failed at check-in or loading during 2017.
At least four times, deportees being escorted out of the country were allowed on flights without crew knowledge.
In May, an Auckland passenger who was supposed to be on the plane was spotted behind the wing as the engines were about to start.
And in September a gun was accidentally left on the public baggage trolley in Nelson.
A CAA spokeswoman said every passenger was entitled to have a safe ‘‘aviation experience from when they check in right through to when they leave the terminal at their chosen destination’’.
When incidents were reported to CAA it worked with operators to find the cause and make any necessary changes, she said.
An Air New Zealand spokeswoman could not comment on specific incidents but said the safety of unaccompanied minors was of ‘‘paramount importance’’ to the airline.
‘‘We are proud to be one of the few airlines that will fly children without a caregiver. The airline has clear processes in place for caring for the tens of thousands of children who travel alone every year and our website outlines our guidelines for accepting bookings for unaccompanied minors.’’
In 2015 the airline introduced an ‘‘airband’’ – a silicon wristband with a chip that meant children could be tracked at points throughout their journey with up to five nominees notified of where they were.
As well as the check-in and loading mishaps were the bizarre and the frightening, such as the plane in Wellington in July that was blown around 60 degrees in a strong gust on the ground.
The documents released by the CAA also revealed a few lighthearted incidents.
A plane taxiing at Invercargill Airport on April 9 was disrupted when sheep came onto the airport grounds.
And in October, a staff member was loading Cookie Time cookies on to a plane at Napier Airport when a box fell into an electric cart’s accelerator. The cart moved forward and hit a propellor blade.