Threat stymied medical flight

A medical flight bound for Ka¯piti Airport had to be diverted to Palmerston North, a 90-minute drive away, after Ka¯piti Airport was closed because of a security threat.

Stuff understands the plane was transporting a woman from Nelson so she could be with her seriously ill baby, who was being treated at Wellington Hospital.

The newborn is believed to have died before the mother arrived at the hospital.

Several investigations are under way into what went wrong.

Ka¯piti Airport was already at the centre of some controversy amid speculation the owner, NZPropCo, planned to close the airport soon.

The behaviour of those responsible for the threat was ‘‘completely unacceptable’’. Dani Simpson NZPropCo

The incident unfolded on December 13 when Ka¯piti Airport temporarily shut down because of a ‘‘potential security event’’.

Despite the closure, the plane the woman was on should have been able to land at the Paraparaumu airport – about a 45-minute drive north of Wellington – as it was classified as an emergency flight.

But, in the rush to evacuate, aerodrome flight information service (AFIS) workers failed to turn on the runway lights, as per normal procedure at the end of the last shift of the day.

The threat was reported to police. Then, New Zealand’s air navigation service provider, Airways, which employs the airport’s AFIS staff, decided to remove staff from the tower about 11.45am.

Dani Simpson, a spokeswoman for NZPropCo, said staff were too upset to return to work and the airport was closed until 2.30pm the next day when police ensured it was safe to reopen.

The air ambulance the woman was on board, operated by Air Wanganui, circled above Ka¯piti Airport at about midnight, as the pilot tried to trigger the automatic runway lights.

Wellington Airport was closed at the time for scheduled runway maintenance, so the flight was diverted to Palmerston North.

Life Flight then flew the woman in the Westpac rescue helicopter to Wellington Hospital about 1am on December 14.

It is understood that by the time the chopper landed, her baby had died.

An Airways spokeswoman said it had reported the failure to turn on the runway lights to the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA).

It would also review its processes for leaving a tower under urgency, she said.

NZPropCo had also made a report to the CAA and would conduct an internal investigation into the airport’s safety management procedures.

‘‘We will be working with any agency that decides to conduct a review of the incident,’’ Simpson said.

The threat that sparked the airport’s closure was made by people who did not agree with the airport’s decision to close the runway for several hours each day during summer due to an AFIS staffing shortage.

Simpson said the behaviour of those responsible for the threat was ‘‘completely unacceptable’’, and they needed to realise it had serious and direct consequences.

The CAA had not launched an investigation but was discussing the matter with Airways.

The Capital & Coast District Health Board’s quality improvement and patient safety director, Sandy Blake, confirmed the DHB was aware of the incident and said it was reviewing it.

Blake said she could not comment on individual cases for privacy reasons and could not provide further information before the inquiry.

‘‘In general terms, however, we can advise that the closure of both Wellington and Ka¯piti airports does impact on the ability of the aeromedical retrieval service to provide timely services,’’ she said.

Nelson Marlborough DHB chief medical officer Dr Nick Baker said his organisation was also aware of the circumstances and would consider what happened to see if lessons could be learnt.

Police have closed their investigation into the threat and will not be laying charges.